ETA: Okay, I've recently found out that this quote is not Vonnegut, although he did write something similar to this in a letter to schoolchildren. That letter was posted to three--ring's blog with her commentary posted below. Her commentary was copy-pasted to Facebook as being written by Vonnegut, and it's been passed around that way ever since. Proof here.
I'm fixing this post with proper attribution. I did do a quick web search before posting this, but apparently it was too quick. Bleagh.
I think talent, AKA aptitude, exists. And I think a lot of it is social factors. Your willingness to spend hours on a new skill is going to depend on things like your free time and self-efficacy and access to mentors, which all correlate with wealth and privilege. You might be born trans, and thus abused by your parents, and thus suffer from depression, and thus have little motivation to practice guitar. Or you might be like Michael Phelps. Who has a giant armspan, weird joints, a different way of processing lactic acid, and the kind of ADHD where he spends hours swimming without noticing the passage of time. And also had access to water and teachers at a young age. All of that, I think, is talent.
And then there are people who grow up in poverty, experiencing hate, not having many opportunities in life. But they have one or two opportunities to learn an art, and they pour all of their emotions and beliefs about the world into it, and it's more meaningful to them than it could be to anyone who's had an easy life. And that's talent too.
And both of those can change the world.
I agree for the most part but I will point out that some trans people weren't abused by their parents
Yeah, absolutely correct, I'm only describing a single hypothetical person.