# What do you have a huge amount of interest in doing, but none of the talent required to do it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 1, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507 "2011-07-01T14:01:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/21 "2011-07-01T23:18:04Z")
Standup comedy. I actually tried it at a few open mic nights when I was much younger, which provided empirical proof that I have no talent for it. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/22 "2011-07-01T23:32:07Z")
Playing a musical instrument. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/23 "2011-07-01T23:50:10Z")
When I was a boy, I dreamed of being a rock star. I got my first guitar at fourteen. I have absolutely no rhythm, and bad coordination. You can add me to the chorus(hehe) of people saying sing/dance/play an instrument. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/24 "2011-07-02T00:01:56Z")
I wish I could play an instrument. But I suck so very, very badly. I also wish I could draw, but whenever I try, it ends up looking like something Mom should stick to the fridge with a big rainbow magnet. What frustrates me the most is writing, because I have **some** of the talent. Just a little. Teachers from kindergarten onward have been telling me I should write. But I just can’t seem to get anything out of me that I can be proud of. I have a blog I enjoy posting to, and I used to journal and do writing exercises, but I can’t get a half decent story out on paper, so I’ve stopped trying. Maybe it’s a confidence issue, but it’s disheartening to try and write something, only to find myself looking for the shredder when I read it later. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/25 "2011-07-02T03:51:11Z")
Yoga. Ceramics. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/26 "2011-07-02T04:39:20Z")
I adore music, but have no talent at any instrument, nor can I sing. I’ve even failed to learn how to make mashups, despite trying several different programs. sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/27 "2011-07-02T05:00:36Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > Mathematics, and many subjects/fields of work which involve lots of math, utterly fascinate me and I really wish I was naturally talented in this way. But I have a diagnosis of dyscalculia and have always struggled to comprehend everything to do with math, numbers, time, puzzles, etc. I never made it past 8th-grade level math in school. > > Thinking of it now, this might be a big part of why I never went to college and have no plans for a real career. Academically, I find most things I have plenty of natural talent in boring or frustrating (music, sculpture, writing/literary pursuits). I never made it past 8th grade math and I went to college. I’m a teacher. But I do agree on the math part: I’d love to be a doctor or a research scientist. What I really wanted to do - USAF - I couldn’t, but not because I didn’t have the talent. I am deaf in one ear. Immediate disqualification. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/28 "2011-07-02T05:56:12Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Sex. > > Regards, > Shodan How could there possibly be a better answer than this?? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/29 "2011-07-02T13:50:28Z")
Not exactly a talent,but . . . riding roller coasters. I get serious vertigo in those things, to the point of passing out. But I love the concept of roller coasters, am interested in their design, photographing them, etc. And oh yes . . . dancing. ---
**Author:** ![Kika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5fc32e/32.png) [@Kika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kika)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/30 "2011-07-02T14:02:00Z")
Anything that requires more coordination than walking. (And even walking, my feet get mixed up sometimes.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/31 "2011-07-02T15:35:51Z")
Cake decorating. I can bake a cake so good it’ll make you cry, but decorating it beyond just a smear of frosting? Forget it. Even the smear of frosting doesn’t come out right. My almost 3-year-old niece could probably do a better job. I have no artistic talent whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/32 "2011-07-02T16:04:25Z")
Oceanography. I am totally, 100% fascinated by the ocean. I would love nothing better than to study it for real, learn about what is down there, discover something new, etc. etc. Unfortunately, science is not for me. I barely passed high school chemistry and physics, and dropped out of precalculus. I tried and tried and studied and studied and worked like a slave in those classes, but it just wasn’t happening. I think I lack that side of my brain entirely or something. It is one of my secret sadnesses. On the plus side, I can sing, dance, play instruments, and I’m a whiz with languages. ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/33 "2011-07-02T16:20:25Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Play guitar well. Twenty plus years playing and I still play at a very basic level. > > Can’t sing at all, wish I could. > > Wish I could dance well, too. I have played guitar for over 45 years. I can occasionally make people sit up and take notice, usually by playing somebody else’s arrangement. I have often thought that if I could sing well I would not have bothered learning more than a few chords. I suppose I might like to dance, but that never figures into my fantasies. I am always singing in my fantasies. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/34 "2011-07-02T16:54:13Z")
Always been an avid reader, have great respect for well-written books, would love to produce a really good novel. (Good by my own definition, that is…something like Ken Kesey’s work, or John Nichols). I’ve done a little bit of journalistic writing and have been complimented on my technical writing skills, but I’m afraid I lack the discipline and organizational ability to undertake anything as complex as a novel. Also I’d really like to be able to play good slip-note style piano. I can hear the songs and notes in my head but lack the ability to translate that to fingers on the keyboard. SS ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/35 "2011-07-03T00:36:13Z")
I mentioned playing a musical instrument, but on my trip home this holiday weekend I realized even more than that, I would love to be able to sing well. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/36 "2011-07-03T01:24:23Z")
Being an idle rich person. I’m sure I’d be able to enjoy the hell out of it and not fritter it away on drugs and bad sexual relationships as so many have. But idleness and wealth are both beyond me, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/37 "2011-07-03T01:28:29Z")
I have wished so many times that I could paint that it’s just sad. I can imagine some pretty awesome scenes and designs, but can’t even sign my own name legibly. I would be really happy if I could just paint…for some reason paint rather than draw, hrm…what I see in my head. I love dancing and singing but fool myself into thinking that I have a modicum of talent and so do those things anyway, just not that well. 😛 And I’m ok with that! But to paint…\…ain’t no foolin’ even myself about that one. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/38 "2011-07-03T01:31:48Z")
> [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](#): > > Carpentry, furniture making to be more precise. I’m not so coordinated with tools, and I have little patience. I’d love to be able to craft some custom furniture. This too, though I have myself fooled that all I’d need is a decent garage setup and lots and lots of free time. If I win the big lottery, this is what I will be doing. I grew up with my dad making most of our furniture, and we always had a decent woodshop going, so it’s just inconceivable to me that I can think of this neato bookcase I want and can’t just pop into the garage and knock it out in a few months. \ ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/39 "2011-07-03T02:52:13Z")
Dancing. And for me it’s not so much the talent as the endurance. I’m in terrible shape, and even long-distance walking makes me damn-near collapse. So… Yeah. That. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507/40 "2011-07-03T04:34:43Z")
Like many others : play the guitar, sing, dance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-a-huge-amount-of-interest-in-doing-but-none-of-the-talent-required-to-do-it/587507.md?page=3)