More on the Evils of Laziness

Piaw has a good start on that essay on American laziness I keep meaning to write (but don't, because, in the few hours I'm not working or biking, I'm drooling over sports cars):

There is no such thing as talent

I remember a friend of mine in high school talking about a mutual friend we had who was very good at drawing (and art in general). She commented that she'd never be as good as our friend, because she had some kind of natural "ability." I think I disagreed too violently to make a coherent point at the time, but the main thing I was trying to say was that the reason our friend was good was that she spent all her time drawing, and that if either of us did that, we'd be that good too. The idea of "talent" should not be used as an excuse.