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speffyesterday at 5:10 PM1 replyview on HN

What are you basing this off of? Do you actually have any experience making art? Or is this just learned helplessness talking?

Also please stop implying I said any 12 year old can do this. I didn't. Once again, I said anyone who puts in the time can do what 12-year old Michelangelo did.


Replies

MontyCarloHallyesterday at 5:20 PM

>What are you basing this off of? Do you actually have any experience making art? Or is this just learned helplessness talking?

I've done ≥weekly life drawing classes for 20+ years, and have observed the distribution of progress people make over time. Based on my observations and conversations with my teachers, I agree with you that a nontrivial fraction of adults starting with zero artistic ability can be trained to an advanced degree. But I disagree that this holds true for "anyone"; a larger fraction cannot be trained beyond a basic level.

>Also please stop implying I said any 12 year old can do this. I didn't.

You literally said: "It's impressive that he did it at 12, but he had years of focused practice under his belt before he did this one. Anyone can do this level of work - they just need to actually learn it." To me, that heavily implies any 12 year old with sufficient training is encompassed by that "anyone."