Do you think that it is better to be smart by Natural Gifts or a good work ethic and Determination.

Discuss.

best to be smart by being lucky.

and on that note i'd like to share a little story with everyone :D

ok so this upcoming fall my brother is going away to college in his freshman year. as part of his entrance exam, they had him take a german test to see which german class he would be placed in. anyway, he's taking the test, and he doesn't know any of it. like he probably was sure of 5/50 answers. a week later he gets a letter telling him he's been placed in the most advanced german class they have. he guessed on almost every answer, and got them all right. so now he's ***ed :)

I think that it is best to be a mix of both. Naturally smart people have it easy in teh beginning, but when the going gets tough, they might get going because they never learned any work ethic. Determined people are less likely to cave into pressure, although they may have more trouble with the intake of knowledge. But if a Naturally Smart person learned work ethic, then they would be the best off.

I'd rather be smart through natural gifts because of the fact that there is no work involved. :P

It's probably best to work at it since it'll help you out more but I like being smart through natural gift. Everythings easy. =P

Now of course everyones not good in everything so you'll have to work at something. That area that you have to work in is where everyone can develop work ethic and responsibility.

Either or none. I have no preference. You're either born one way or another, yet you still reach the same destination; being smart.

Define "smart".

Intelligent.

Intelligence can only be born into, I think, though it's possible to have it and not show it/use it. If you're not intelligent, you can still become knowledgeable, though.

Now a more elaborate definition would help me make my opinion, just giving me anther word that I could just make the same question on doesn't help me.

I think the best word for this is as YK said; knowledgeable. I would prefer the path thorugh determination, because that way, you are more experienced in what your knowledgeable of and therefore more likeley to succeed in that given area. Naturally gifted is fine, but you don't get as many perspectives in that given area since you didn't have to work at many angles of the area to gain a fuller understanding. But whatever works for the individual is what counts.

I was typing my response and then realized that it sounded exacty like this. So.... :ditto:

Not necessarily. Most of us with internet access, I guess, are lucky and have been in advanced classes/other special situations where we can take advantage of what you have. Not everyone, however, is in some situation where their gifts can be used eaasily. You can put in just as much work as someone who isn't as talented as you because you're not as knowledgeable as they are.

Of course, there are also people who choose to do nothing with what they have and are content to lead average lives despite above-average abilities. Some people have a choice, some people don't.

EDIT: Fixed the spelling in your topic title, Dez.

Natural smarts, because that means more free time. = D

I got read to like a hell of a lot when I was little, so I guess that counts as "naturally" smart. Also, I was bored, so I used to try to do my older sister's math homework, so I'm super advanced in those nowadays.

But, I do wish I had work ethic. Just a little bit. Since the things I'm not natural in (DAMN YOU ART), I suck at.

Wow...this defines :ditto: , exept I didn't really want to do my sister's lit work...

In life it is better towards you to have gifts because you really don't have to do anything to get ahead in life, but in an arguement it is worth a lot more to have worked for your intelligence.

That's a really interesting viewpoint. Proverb-worthy, even. :D

Not neccessarily true, though--people who work towards their successes can often learn things along the way that people who were born into them don't. And they're typically more interesting people, too. B)

It doesn't really matter just as long as your smart.

Really, who would actually care how someone was smart? How does it even matter?

I don't really think it matters if both ways get you a collage diploma >_>

but if I had to choose, I would go with hard work. The people just born with it tend to be stuck up jerks (or at least in my experiences).

Hard work, no doubt.

...! Same with me!
I read lots of non-fiction books when I was little, and coupled with me being naturally smart, I've been among the smartest in my grade. Just... also one of the laziest. Luckily I'm a natural in everything academic I've been in so far, so I can get by without putting much effort into things.

...Chances are that'll change since I'm going into high school tomorrow.

Probably not. You'll have a little more work and might have to study I little more, but for the most part you will probably skate through.

Almost everyone at my school is like you are, but now we're like (insert expletive).