Can You Waste Talent?

This is a subject that's been brought up on House a couple of times, without a "right" answer ever being offered. It's always interested me when I've seen it, so now I'm sharing it with you.

Let's say that a man is a genius. He's a medical researcher, and given enough time, he may be able to find a cure for AIDs and cancer. At the age of 30, he decides that he doesn't want to do research anymore; he becomes a barber instead.

If he continues in the medical field, he will help save millions of lives. But he doesn't want to work in that field any more. Does anyone truly have the right to say that he is wrong in his decision, or to force him to do research?

Some people are really good at certain things, so good that it almost seems like they have an obligation to do what they're good at. But each person is in charge of his own life, and he can decide what he wants to do and what he doesn't want to do. If a person doesn't want to do that which he is good at, can anyone say that he is "wasting" his talent? It's his to waste, so to speak.

Or should people with extraordinary abilities give up their personal desires and do what is "better for the world"?

Hmm...to me people who says that are no different from the poor insulting the rich saying "fuck them, instead of all those luxuries they'd better off giving all those money to us..."

Waste or whatever, as long as it does not cause harm or violate others rights, then how someone use/spend their possessions is their own business. And that includes talent, skills knowledge etc.

So yeah, in the case above while I may feel a lil' bit disappointed, but I'll just shrug it off with an "oh well...it's his life."

It can be argued that if a person whose work would save lives does not do that work, then he is, indirectly, harming many people.

So you'd say when someone ignores a person who's about to be murdered, he's indirectly involved in the act of murdering the said person?

Doing nothing is not the same as committing the act itself.

In the case your giving it really doesnt make a diffrence either way if you think about it. cancer aids and what not, exist for a reason, natures population control if you will. as the cycle goes should cures be discovered, something even worse will be discovered.

so in responce to the topic. i feel it depends on the talent, before it can be decided if it can be wasted or not

No, you can't. Too many "what ifs".

For the title of topic (I was actually expecting something different from your OP) - yes, talent can be easily wasted.

As for your thought about this 'obligation' of extremely talented people to do what they're good at, they shouldn't be forced to do what they don't want to do.

With your example of a medical researcher who might be able to find a cure to AIDS or whichever fatal disease you can think of, it's all just a 'what if' situation.
Around here we have a nice saying that goes like "If the fish had wings we wouldn't need the fishponds." and it fits perfectly to this situation.

People around me always tell me that I'm extremely talented in learning languages (and they're imo wrong) and see it as a gift... yeah, I admit learning any language or basic grammar just from it's fragments or similarity to anything I've heard is easier for me... I wouldn't probably have problems with learning and working with languages I'm not familiar with, but why should I do that?
I'm just doing what's fun to me and gives me the feeling of satisfaction, why should I force myself to do something else?

Imagine youself in their situation - take a subject you hate and makes you rage everytime you hear about it, but you can be the best one in it without making any effort and accomplish great things. On the other hand, take your favourite subject in which you're pretty much average and have to try a lot just to 'stay average' but it's the most enjoyable time of your life. Which one would you choose? I'm sure you know the answer without even thinking about it.

I'm still pretty much sticking to my 'talent' and working with languages, but if some genius medic simply doesn't find his 'genius' subject satisfationary and suffers by working in that subject, who has the right to say "You are obligated to work here or else you're a killer!"? Not a single person.

If the humans or any other species targeted by his 'genius subject' were facing extinction or a complete annihilation, then, we could talk about this genius being obligated. But this surely doesn't go for AIDS or any other disease at this point of time...

Tl;Dr - Don't think you have the right to decide other person's lives. End of story.

Well some may say that he is wasting his talent and some may say that u should do what makes u happy because if u don't put your mind and soul on the thing you're doing you woun't make progress and thus he not not find a cure for "X" decease

i myself am good at computers and understanding how machinery works by dismembering it even if i havent seen it before and even fixin it (i even have a few of inventions of my own XD) but i'm studying medicine because i love it

Or is it? If you were bleeding out right in front of someone and they ignored you and let you die, did they contribute to your death. They didn't do anything, but is that "inaction" actaully the very "action" that lead to you death?

It's not the same as stabbing the bastard.

Not sure how it's in your country, but this kind of inaction is punishable by law in my country. At least with traffic accidents (even though you weren't a participant of it). I'm not entirely sure, but even for a normal situation it's still a crime (or at least should be).

But I don't see any connection between "wasting one's talent" as it's asked by Shaggy and letting someone bleed to death.

That's because we're not talking about that, off topic, boo hoo.

We're talking about:

Yeah, you can!
My Friend is a main Example of this!:

He complains so much that he is never good at anything...Yet he is a fucking great artist, and good at video editing. He has given up on both to do some lame "behind the desk computer job!"

So YES, you can waste Talent!

No. It's not about "What's best for the world." That is just self-gratifying bull-shit. They dont give a fuck about the reast of the world. What it's REALLY about is "But what if I get sick? That can't happen? I'm more important! If that person is gone, he can't cure me!".

It's not about "Wasting talent" either.

I admit it, I feel that way, deep in my intictual mind, everyone does. But in my rational mind, something the majority of people don't have very much of, I beleive he can do whatever he wants with his life. Ohh! Imagine and Ex-Surgen giving youa hair cut! It would be PERFECT! Haha Then he'd give you the thousand dollar bill haha. Bad habit die hard.

How does "Doing nothing is not the same blaah blaah" relate to the fact that some talented people tend to not use their potential?

No but just because the action or lack thereof isn't malicious doesn't mean it didn't kill someone the you reasonably could of saved.

So if I can save a life by developing a new medicine but I decide not too, it isn't absurd to ask "is my inaction killing people?"
My problem with that thought though is the assumption that the guy already knowns he has a surefire way to find a cure.



It is just an example. The potential being the ability to save someone, and the consquences of not using your potential ending in someones death.

Maybe we are both thinking in a different manner. I'm still taking this example by ShaggyJebus:


or something similar as the main thought or point of this thread.

With this example one cannot say that this researcher (or any other genius person) killed anybody by his inactivity, since there's no guarantee that his research or work will lead to the point of helping others, unless you have a time machine or could cross to different dimensions.
Yes his research might in the long run be helpful in some way but might as well kill lots of people (test subjects during later parts and stuff).
Inactivity in a dirrect matter (above said 'not helping a stabbed person') is of course equal to killing/destroying that object in need of help. But even with this you can find exceptions.
Not working in a field of work you are exceptional at simply can't be marked as an indirect harm even if you try to stand on your head and jump on your ears.

Yes, it is a waste of your talent and indirectly, in some 'what-if' case your decision might have influenced or changed lives of a huge amount of people, but unless it already happened noone can hold this talented person resbonsible for whatever resulting from his decision.

But as I said, I'm probably focused on the 'is the talented one responsible for something due to his inaction' and you on the general part of 'inaction equals harm'.

Man I'm really getting philosophical these days... scary.

Yes, you actually can waste talent. We guys do it all the time, when we masterbate.

If the doctor was truly intelligent he would understand that he has great ability in the medical field and would be easily convinced to take up his previous work again. Yes talent can be wasted.