（#Talent #AveragePerson #Success）Discover and leverage your talents. A standard take on career theory

Do you have "TALENT"?

"I have talent!"
There are those who can confidently declare this—even if it’s a bit of a bluff—

"I have no talent; I fail at everything I try."
...while others lament their lack of talent, convinced they are merely ordinary.

To cut to the conclusion: everyone possesses...

"You have TALENT."

However, whether the talent one possesses,
is something that allows one to thrive,
or garner thunderous applause in today's human society,
is an entirely different matter.

Let us explore, step by step and in depth,
the true nature of what we call "talent."

Do Talent and Success Coincide?

They do not coincide.

In most cases, they do not.

Having talent does not mean you will go viral, either.

Between "having talent" and "seeing the light of day to succeed in society,"
there lies a massive, unbridgeable gap.

Many people want to believe that "as long as you have talent, you will definitely succeed on the center stage someday,"
but reality is not that simple.

Talent and success are never directly linked.

Let's delve deeper into this cruel truth.

No matter how outstanding a talent you possess,
even one that pierces the heavens,
if the following conditions are not met,
that talent will remain buried without ever surfacing in society.

Conditions for Talent to Emerge

• 1. The Great Mismatch of "Era" and "Environment"

  No matter how exceptional the talent, if born in the wrong era or place, it transforms into merely a "useless possession."

  For example, in today's IT society, someone with a genius talent for spotting programming vulnerabilities in an instant would be highly valued and achieve great success globally as a white-hat hacker.

  But what if they had been born 300 years ago in an uncivilized era?

  In a world without computers or the internet, that rare talent would be of no use.
  They would simply disappear into the dustbin of history as "that slightly eccentric neighbor who is strangely good at calculations."

  Conversely, in an ancient hunter-gatherer society,
  a "hunting genius" who could distinguish distant footsteps better than anyone and take down prey with a single blow would have thrived as a hero.

  However, if that person were born in a modern urban area,
  they might just be treated as a "social misfit who can't sit still and is overly sensitive to sound,"
  struggling to adapt to office work.

  Whether talent turns into success depends not on the individual's effort, but on whether the coincidental puzzle pieces of the "needs of the times" fit together.

• 2. The Barrier of Separate Skills: "Expressiveness" and "Political Power"

  Apart from pure technical or artistic talent,
  if you lack the "presentation (producing ability)" to make society recognize it, or
  the "political power" to gather allies within an organization, you will not be given a place to succeed.

  In both the art and business worlds,
  while people with "rough skills but a genius talent for self-promotion and networking" go out into the world,
  there are countless true geniuses rotting away in the corners of their rooms, unknown to anyone, possessing a sense dozens of times superior, simply because
  they are extremely shy
  or clumsy at social maneuvering.

  The "successful people" whom society evaluates and we see are,
  rather than possessors of pure talent,
  simply "people who excel at the talent of skillfully translating and pitching their own talent to society."

• 3. Overly Pure Talent That Refuses to Be "Consumed"

  "Succeeding" in society means,
  to a greater or lesser extent,
  customizing your talent into a form that others can easily understand and
  making it a product to be consumed by the market.

  However,
  talent that is too pure
  and too advanced
  cannot possibly be understood by the masses living in the same era.

  Just as Van Gogh's paintings didn't sell while he was alive,
  geniuses who are too early for their time,
  and talents that are too edgy,
  are rejected by society as "incomprehensible foreign objects."

  Ironically, they only bathe in the light of "success"
  decades or centuries after they have passed away,
  when the era has finally caught up to the level of their talent.

• 4. What Lies Behind the Spotlight of Success

  The "successful people" we see in the media and on social media are
  just a handful of "lucky survivors" among countless humans.

  They didn't just have talent; they are people who slipped through a chain of multiple coincidences, such as:
  - They happened to be born in an era that demanded that talent,
  - They happened to meet a person of influence who discovered it,
  - They happened to be able to express it in a way that adapted to society's rules.

Do Talent and Economic Value Coincide?

First of all, what many people misunderstand is
the capitalistic illusion that "the more talent a person has, the better they are at their job and the higher their income will be."

Does talent really lead directly to income?

If you look around the actual market, it is obvious that the answer is "no."

The world is overflowing with
poorly made games sometimes known as "crappy games,"
expensive food that looks good but has no taste or substance, and
empty business information products.

These sometimes generate enormous profits and bring commercial wealth to the sellers.

However, the people who made or sold them
do not necessarily possess an essential "talent for game creation" or "talent as a chef."
What exists there is
nothing more than a "talent for marketing" or a "talent for deceiving the masses,"
making something empty appear as if it has value.

In this case, what they had was not so much a talent for creation, but rather
a "talent as a con artist," isn't it?

Whether it is fraud
or a scam,
considering the fact that there are people earning an income from it,
ironically, perhaps talent and income do coincide in some aspects.

Conversely,
there are countless creators and craftsmen who forget to eat and sleep to master a single skill,
possessing the talent to produce first-class work that no one can imitate,
yet suffer in poverty without earning even $1.

"The presence or absence of talent" and "the amount of income" are by no means equal.

"Income" in modern society is
merely a number indicating how well the "gears of demand" mesh, meaning
how well one fits the social system and market needs;
it is not a certificate of the essential talent sleeping within a human being.

Therefore,
there is absolutely no need to be pessimistic and think, "Because I am not successful, I must have no talent."

That talent you have in your hands
might not have caught anyone's eye,
and might not have received applause from anyone.

However,
"not being discovered by anyone and not being given a place to succeed" and
"talent not existing"
are not synonymous.

The world simply does not know your talent yet,
and you yourself are also
simply unaware of where that spark is smoldering.

For Most People, Talent and Society Are Mismatched

"Why aren't my strengths utilized in my work?"
"Isn't there a way of living that suits me better?"――
If you have ever felt this way,
it is not due to a lack of personal ability or a failure in your choices.

It is because the social structure itself
harbors a decisive gap
between "individual talent" and "required roles."

Let us unravel in detail the reality we face and
the fundamental reasons why this gap occurs.

The Reality That Most People Live in a "Mismatch"

People who perfectly recognize their talents and make a living from work that aligns with them 100% are
only a handful of lucky individuals.

The vast majority of people in the world
spend their days
feeling the gap between "what they are good at" and
"the job they currently hold."

The reason why so many people are forced to live in this "mismatch" is clear.

• Society's Chairs (Occupations) Are Limited

  The roles required by society (the framework of economic activity) are,
  in reality, overwhelmingly few compared to the diverse and complex talents humans possess.

  There is a limit to the number of occupations and positions that can be monetized in the market,
  and passing them through the filter of economic demand (whether money will be paid or not)
  narrows down the options even further.

  As a result,
  no matter how unique and wonderful a talent you have,
  cases frequently occur where a "chair" that can accommodate it as is
  has not been prepared on society's side.

• The Gradation of Talent and the Bias of Market Value

  Human aptitudes and talents exist on a seamless gradation.

  However,
  what society evaluates tends to be heavily biased toward "the top few percent of outstanding talents."

  For example,
  not everyone who is "a little good at talking" can become an announcer or a popular streamer,
  and many people
  creatively manage their talent at a "reasonably good" level,
  seeking out a job as a point of compromise.

  The structure dictates that anyone other than a few outstanding individuals
  cannot directly turn their talent into a profession.

• A Social Structure That Does Not Assume Individual Adaptation

  In other words,
  human society was not essentially created as a "place to maximize individual talent and happiness."

  The "puzzle to maintain and expand the systems of society and the economy" came first.

  The reality is closer to the human side carving away or bending their own shapes,
  forcing themselves to fit into the unevenness of that puzzle.

Accepting this reality of "mismatch" by no means implies despair.

Rather,
by understanding that "it is natural not to fit into the framework of society,"
you are freed from unnecessary self-denial.

Instead of forcing yourself to whittle yourself down aiming for 100% adaptation,
this becomes the first step to drawing up a flexible survival strategy:
treating work practically as a "point of contact with society and a means of survival,"
and expressing your talents in your spare time.

What is Your Talent?

It is understandable that if you have talent,
and are in an environment that matches your talent,
it is easier to succeed and earn a high income.

While many career theories speak beautifully of "finding and utilizing your talent,"
the actual social structure and the truth behind it are much messier, and sometimes cruel.

Do people truly understand their own talents?

• I am good at [X], so I make a living doing the job of [X].
• I like [X], so I want to express [X].
• I have [X] as my goal, so I am studying [X].

How many people are there, really, who have done their self-analysis,
firmly recognized their own talents as a certainty,
and are employed in a job exactly as intended,
perfectly matching their talents?

It is highly unlikely that a person's job and their talent actually coincide.

Not every human being
is necessarily positioned in a place that matches their talent;
rather, isn't it the case that most are mismatched with their actual talents?

If there are countless phenomena existing in this world,
then the number of talents accompanying them must also be countless.

Talents are not necessarily limited to
those that act beneficially for human society,
such as those of artists or technical professionals.

When you think about it this way, a terrifying fact emerges.

The talent you are endowed with
is not necessarily one
that will be welcomed by society.

The Terrifying Truth of "Unwelcome Talents"

The fact that
"talent is not necessarily welcomed by society"
is the absolute truth.

If there are countless phenomena in this world,
then there are countless variations of talent as well.

However,
whether or not that aligns with capitalism or modern laws and morals is
a completely "separate issue."

Type of Talent	Specific Examples	Society's Evaluation Treatment	Economic Value	Individual's Experience
High Market Value Type (Welcomed by society)	Programming Management Entertainment Sales ability	Praised Favored	Enormous	High income Fame Approval
Social Infrastructure Type (Necessary but undervalued)	Cleaning Caregiving Simple clerical work Accurate inspection	Neglected Taken for granted	Low margin	Exhaustion Low wage Stability
Non-Economic Type (Ignored by society)	Detecting minute environmental changes High empathy Memorizing trivia	Noise Ignored	Zero	Solitude Self-satisfaction Exhaustion
Too Early Type (The era hasn't caught up)	Eccentric Unclear artistic concepts Theories that are too advanced	Heresy Treated as a weirdo	Unknown	Isolation Re-evaluated after death
Anti-Social Type (Rejected by society)	Elaborate criminal planning Psychological manipulation Brainwashing	Exclusion Punishment	Illegal Dangerous	Isolation Downfall Danger

Just as someone who could have been a hero in medieval Europe as an "excellent warrior (talent for killing people)",
would be considered a mere dangerous criminal if born in modern times,
the value of a talent is nothing more than local rules arbitrarily decided by the era and society.

People whose talents miraculously match society's needs are called "geniuses" or "successful people."
However, rather than being due to the individual's effort, this is
a great coincidence of "happening to fit perfectly into the puzzle of the era and environment."

The fact that many people are in jobs that do not match their talents
is by no means due to a lack of self-analysis,
but is a structural limitation of society.
Rather,
"somehow adapting to society and surviving despite the mismatch"
is, I believe,
a tremendous survival ability inherent in humans (which is itself a kind of talent).

The perspective of looking coldly at the structure of the world
without being deceived by sugar-coated career theories
might also be one form of talent.

Weird Talents

I have made a list of talents you don't need,
talents that are completely useless.

For those who have "won" these,
it is not their fault;
these are talents they were naturally endowed with as traits,
but they are talents that make life undeniably difficult.

Weird Talents You Don't Want to Be Endowed With

• 1. Children Flocking to You

  Whether it's a meal you want to enjoy in peace, an important day off, or an occasional train ride,
  the talent of running into a "screaming baby space" wherever you go.

  The family with young children that moved in next door.

  To anyone other than the baby and their family, it's just "annoying and bothersome noise," isn't it.

  You can't concentrate,
  just enduring it causes stress,
  you can't control it,
  and it's frustrating, but
  there is absolutely nothing the person can do about it.

• 2. Always Going Backward in Investing

  If it's just a matter of going up or down, the probability should originally be 50%.

  To get it wrong every single time might be the talent of "missing the 50%."

  Far from building wealth, it only decreases.

  In this case, not doing it at all is the best policy.

• 3. Bad Timing

  I am also working seriously while writing this blog, you know.

  Sometimes I take a break and lie down for a nap.

  And that is the exact moment I am seen.

  "He's just slacking off and sleeping."
  If that's the only part seen, it's the talent of making people think "That guy is useless."

• 4. Sudden Bugs

  You are just using a computer normally, but
  the moment you operate it, it freezes, or a mysterious error screen appears.

  Because it suddenly works fine when someone else touches it, it comes with the added bonus of being unreasonably scolded for "using it wrong."

  In modern digital society, it is a talent that breeds nothing but difficulty in living.

• 5. The Talent of Turning All Traffic Lights "Red"

  Not just when you are in a hurry, but for some reason, the traffic lights at every intersection you go to
  all turn red at the perfect moment as you approach.

  It is a talent specializing in time loss, brilliantly controlling and turning the probability of smoothly passing through on green against you.

  If you get frustrated and speed up to make the green light,
  the police approach with a "fine ticket."

• 6. Bird Droppings

  Just walking normally, carrying a bag in your hand and a backpack on your back.

  If bird droppings hit you with pinpoint accuracy, and it happens two or three times, there is a hint that talent is involved.

  Receiving the agreement of a crow's "Aho~ (idiot)" at the exact right timing when you make a slight blunder is a similar talent.

• 7. Being a Scaredy-Cat

  This kind of emotional habit might also, in a way, be the influence of a talent.

  You unintentionally end up thinking, "I'm scared," "I can't say it," "I want to run away."

  What if, aside from normal mental theories, there is a talent that makes this emotional switch easily triggered?

There are talents that are immediately understandable when you hear the word "talent,"
such as those of artists, technical professionals, and athletes.

The 7 examples raised in the list, these too, are "talents."

Which is it?

Which is a "winning" talent, and which is a "losing" talent?

Which one would you like to possess as a trait for your talent?

What I especially want you to reconsider is the issue regarding children and the next generation.

Do you currently have children?
Or, do you want to go so far as to take risks to give birth and become a parent in the future?

Please do not implant these kinds of "unwanted talents"
into your children or the next generation.

What will become of the talents that reside in children?

To be frank,
having children in itself
can easily become a "massive burden (cost)"
that endlessly strips away your free time and energy.

Just how much meaning can there possibly be
in a choice where your time and assets are whittled away,
and your troubles and hardships only increase without limit?

Isn't it a realistic sentiment that
you simply cannot bring yourself to harbor positive dreams about childbirth or raising children?

If you yourself are suffering from "unwanted talents (negative traits)" that make life difficult,
it is even more so.

Please absolutely do not do anything like
going out of your way to pass down and implant
such inconvenient talents and unreasonable hardships into your own children and the next generation.

Breaking this negative chain with your own generation
should be considered the wisest and most realistic decision.

In modern times, where daily living costs are soaring
and the importance of personal time and mental health is being emphasized,
there is no rational reason to go out of your way to sacrifice yourself just to take on unknown risks.

The "Endless Cost" That Erodes Freedom and Assets

To raise a child,
that is, a new human being,
the financial and time costs required for just one are enormous.

Education and living expenses, which continue to increase as they grow,
directly squeeze your personal asset building and preparations for the future.

Furthermore, it is not just financial;
your mental and physical energy will also continue to be drained around the clock.

• Loss of Time

  Free time that can be used for personal hobbies, career advancement,
  and rest will become almost zero.

• Financial Pressure

  Limitless expenses will continue,
  and the funds for your own life and endeavors will be lost.

• Mental Stress

  Constantly hounded by endless worries and unexpected troubles,
  your mind will have no time to rest.

There is no need to shoulder all these burdens yourself
and surrender control of your own life
just to cling to the choice of "becoming a parent."

Rather than going out of your way to invite hardship
and choosing a path that lowers your quality of life,
choosing a lifestyle where you use your own life and resources entirely for yourself
is far more realistic and rational.

What If You Acquire a Bad Talent?

Talent cannot be chosen
like selecting your favorite juice from a vending machine.

It is something suddenly given from an "unknown realm"
that humans cannot control,
such as nature, the alignment of the stars, genetics, or the environment.

Although human society has strict rules like laws and morals,
talents with a nature that completely contradicts those rules
may also be randomly distributed to us.

• Unemployed

  Perhaps the talent you possess is the "talent of an ultimate Unemployed."

• Violence and Crime

  Or it might be a "talent for violence that plunges others into terror," or
  the "talent of a cunning criminal."

• Underhandedness

  The person who happens to be right next to you might possess a "talent for cheating."

• Plunderer

  Is he your friend?
  The person who happens to be right next to you might possess a "talent for snatching things away from others."

  Haven't your precious things been diminishing before you know it?

(Example) A Scene from Everyday Life

For instance, if there is such a cunning person,
naturally, the people around them will suffer an odd amount of annoyance.

The talent of a con artist mentioned earlier also has an affinity with this talent for cheating.

What if a program you put effort into and spent a long time refining to create
was snatched away by a cunning person,
and that cunning person gained the praise of those around them,
earning an even higher income than you?

Having your work snatched away with zero effort and even your recognition stolen is nothing less than psychological theft.

You would feel annoyance or anger, wouldn't you?

However, from the perspective of the cunning person themselves, it is an extremely "rational" mode of behavior.

Rather than clumsily committing a major murder, getting arrested, and bearing the risk of spending the rest of their life in prison,
they shrewdly repeat shoplifting when they are hungry,
getting off with a light sentence even if they are caught.

From the perspective of the shoplifted store or society, it is a nuisance, but
in the person's own cognition, it might be an art of worldly wisdom that maximizes their "talent for cheating" with minimal risk.

Just stealing something psychological leaves no physical evidence,
nor will they be caught,
let alone be treated as a criminal.
Cunning, and rational.

Such troublesome talents can also be randomly distributed.

The Solitude of "Evil Talents" Sinking Behind Social Norms

If one happens to draw a "bad talent" that cannot conform to the rules of society,
what becomes of that person?

It is, so to speak,
the life of a human being who, in the early stages of life,
has won a "losing ticket in the lottery of talents."

Some people may become desperate,
while others may become defiant and dabble in violence or crime.
It must be painful for the person themselves.

This is because if they try to comply 100% with social norms,
that person will be completely deprived of any opportunity to exercise the "talent (nature)" welling up from within.

Because if they exercise that talent, they are automatically labeled as "evil,"
and someone gets hurt or suffers damage.

• A person who cannot stop shoplifting
• A person with an exceptional "talent for crime"
• A person endowed with overwhelming "violence"

With nowhere to direct that power,
they are simply torn apart by their inner energy
and suffer in agony.

A person possessing the exceptional talent of a criminal,
yet unable to utilize it in society, has nowhere to direct their power,
which is painful, isn't it?

And as a result of defanging themselves to fit into the social framework
and trying to live by suppressing their talent,
are they left with no choice but to be sneered at by those around them as "someone who can't do anything right" or "an inept and clumsy person"?

Days spent continuously restraining themselves
so that their talent is not unleashed upon the outside world.
That figure might be a wandering incompetent or a NEET.

Can ordinary people who are unaware of the inner circumstances
blame those who drew this "losing ticket" based on general theories?

How much can ordinary people, who happened to be endowed with a "harmless and obedient talent that does not violate laws or morals,"
which is at least considered normal,
truly understand the agony of those suffering from having drawn a losing ticket?

Will Anyone Notice Your Talent?

In most cases, you cannot notice
your own talent by yourself.

To find it,
you need a trigger, such as
"having someone else discover it" or
having someone tell you, "You have an aptitude for this."

If you succeed on a major stage watched closely by a large audience of tens of thousands and the media,
like in baseball or soccer,
everyone will be convinced that "he had talent."

Suppose there are 100 million people,
and 99.99 million of them are watching a limited number of famous players achieving great success in baseball or soccer.

Then, what about the unique talents
of the "99.99 million people" on the watching side?
Who on earth will discover them?

I see,
they might be discovered mutually, in turn.

In theory,
it might mean that "people should just discover each other's talents in turn."

However, in reality, "human consciousness" has not reached that point.
A system where 99.99 million people are rewarded all at once does not yet exist in this world.

In Turn?

Has your turn
slipped into the first 1 million of that long line of 99.99 million people?
Conversely,
even after 90 million people have passed by,
is your turn still sinking in the darkness far behind?

Moreover, the timing of when that turn comes around takes absolutely no consideration of the human timeline of a "100-year lifespan."

To be honest, if after I pass 80, when my body can no longer move,
and I have reached an old age where I am finally preparing to peacefully leave this world,
someone suddenly tells me,
"You have an amazing talent for [X]! Now, let's do our best toward the future from here on out!"
I would feel nothing but bewilderment and despair.

"Tell me sooner," I would say.

Why bring this up now.

Are they trying to make me stand on a new starting line at the very moment I am writing my end-of-life notes?

A discovery that is far too late sometimes turns into a cruel dark joke.

The "Unrecognized Geniuses" Hidden in Countless Phenomena

The fact that many people only look at limited elements means that,
conversely,
there are also many people who are not looked at.

Many people only look at a "limited fraction of elements" prepared by society,
such as baseball, soccer, entrance exams, or business.

The fact that many eyes are concentrated only on specific places means,
on the flip side, that
there are countless "vast blind spots seen by no one."

Imagine this.

What if you were
the only player
of a solo sport,
and you had a talent for it?
And no one else but you knows about that sport.

There is no one else who knows the rules of the sport, and the competitive population
consists of no one but you.

Naturally, society does not evaluate that talent,
and cannot even recognize it in the first place.
This is because from society's perspective, the vast majority of humans only look at mainstream things.

By society, you might be branded as
"a person with no track record and no talent."
In the eyes of those around you, you might appear as
"an eccentric doing weird things every day."

Society and the majority might judge you as having no talent, but
what is the truth?
No one just knows the inner workings of that talent.
There is that aspect to it, isn't there.

It is not because your talent is inferior,
but simply because "no one knows the inner workings of that talent."

The Unknown Content "Mei"

There was a content called "Mei," which, although unknown to the world,
was highly exceptional.

"Mei" had one user, and that one person possessed a highly exceptional talent regarding "Mei."

	Mei	Minor	Televised Sports	Famous Game Titles
Users	1	100 to 1000	9999	9999
User Talent	SSS	Good to Bad	from A to Z	from A to Z
Customers	0	500	9999	9999
Recognition	0	500	9999	9999

It is not uncommon in the real world for a person with incredible talent
in a program nobody knows
to become a NEET.

Among those who have become hikikomori (shut-ins) or NEETs in the real world,
there are certainly people harboring incredible, top-tier talents
in minor areas nobody knows about,
or in bizarre fields humanity has yet to verbalize.

They are simply "unobserved geniuses" who
just failed to encounter the era, place, and societal demand.

The number of "occupations" and "competitions" in society
is quite limited.

However,
the number of "phenomena" woven by the universe and the human mind is infinite.

The number of talents as well
is far greater than the framework of society, existing in countless numbers.

There is absolutely no need for you to be pessimistic, thinking, "I have no talent."

The number of talents is so countless
that it exceeds the number of phenomena in society,
and you never know which one you have won.

Furthermore, if that talent is something you only notice once pointed out by someone else,
then as a prerequisite,
the understanding and discerning eye of the person pointing it out are also required.

Given that there are already so many phenomena unknown to society,
if your talent happens to be something unknown,
the appearance of a discoverer for your talent becomes an extremely low probability.

It is simply that you do not yet know the contents of your winning ticket, or
perhaps that talent is so outstanding
that it just cannot be fully measured by the narrow yardstick of modern society.