[eranki]

Nobody knows how to identify "talent" other than in retrospect. We say people are talented when they produce results, and then we select little anecdotes about their story to allude that it was destiny.

We can't settle this debate because we just don't know enough about how the mind works and how genetics play a role.

My question is, what's the actionable piece of advice? If you try programming and don't get it, you'll never be a good programmer? At what point do you give up and say that you just aren't talented enough?

It seems to me that the only people asking the nature vs. nurture questions are the ones that want an excuse to give up.