FredL

Andy, you don't take enough credit, yourself, for starting very interesting topics and the contributions you make to them, nor do you give enough credit to the other contributors. Alot of very interesting things have been pointed out.

I don't want to embarrass you, because you are a gifted and often charming young man, but, it's not all about you.

I guess that "instruction " is a pretty interesting topic, but I think "learning" is alot more so.

I think that talent is far and away the most important component of success in Bonsai and is also far and away the most mysterious. When I was working in Computer Systems Development, it was widely recognized that the difference between the most productive programmers and the average programmer was more than a factor of ten. Actually, quite a bit more. The difference between gifted programmers and average ones showed up very rapidly, certainly within 2 years. I, myself, was pretty good; probably 2 or 3 times as good as average, but there were those I knew of that were WAY better than I was.

Alot of the difference seemed to come down to "recognition" Some individuals were uncanny in their ability to recognize and apply information about programming; as though they had, in some way, been "pre-wired " to receive it. But it was also a mystery as to why certain individuals also had the ability to apply what they learned and even more mysterious why some of us had the ablity to create totally new approaches and teach them to others. I was totally unable to do this, even after many successful years in the field. Well, actually I was pretty good at teaching, but never developed anything new that was significant.

Alot of effort was put into developing tests to try to identify programming talent. None were ever really entirely successful.

I see lots of parallels between programming computers and developing bonsai. Who among us can comprehend the talent of, say, our own Walter Pall. I would never try to compare myself to him, nor do I aspire to reach his level. As he has said, he NEVER HAS BEEN IN JAPAN, much less studied there. Or even taken any formal classes. I could have spent ten years under the finest Japanese masters, learning much and increasing my ability to create recognizable bonsai, but I still wouldn't be one of Al's players at Walter's level. I know myself well enough to be quite sure of this.

There are unquestionably ways to nurture or inhibit talent. But talent.......ah, there's the mystery.

Fred