white people are too good at making music, we need affirmative action in orchestras!
(media.patriots.win)
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Both of those are ephemeral concepts. There is no way to objectively quantify either in an empirical way.
Okay if you want to argue people do not have innate talent or ability i duno what to tell you.
Two kids can put in the same practice hours and have identical practice regimens but they're probably not going to have the same caliber of skill. Anyone who's played an instrument recognizes this
Anyone who has practiced any discipline, and tried to achieve in that discipline, will recognize that talent exists. It's so obvious I don't know how this person can not believe in it.
Practice isn't about hours alone, quality of practice matters as does what you do outside of practice. Just because a kid is locked in a room with an instrument for an hour doesn't mean they're actually practicing for that hour nor does it mean it's the only hour they're practicing.
The reality is, one person critically listens to the pieces all day long, taps the rhythms with their fingers while they're standing in line at the store, and plays for the fun of it every time they have free time, while the other who "put in the same practice hours" leaves their instrument in the practice room and doesn't give it a second thought until their next scheduled rehearsal.
When you get to the point of a second chair vs a first chair in a high profile professional orchestra, sure genetic things like length of fingers and forearms may have the slightest impact. Just like when you're comparing one Olympic runner to another that's only 1/100th of a second faster.
But saying that someone else is "just more talented" is usually just a way of saving your own ego while giving up because you don't want to put in the effort to get better. It's a form of "sour grapes".
To ignore the talent component is to ignore the innate differences, abilities and potentials in people. It is what it is - accept it or not.
Do you believe that men and women are completely the same? No innate differences?
Sexual dimorphism between males and females is irrelevant to the entire concept. We're not talking about power lifting, we're talking about playing in an orchestra.
To say that someone can be born with the ability to play the flute well is ridiculous. Genetic factors within standard deviations such as length of fingers, may eventually play a part in distinguishing one professional from another, but not until they've far surpassed the level of practice and hard work that the vast majority of people will never attempt.
Laying aside the obvious extremes such as being born without fingers, if you compare one twelve year old playing the flute to another twelve year old playing the flute, the difference in performance is going to be directly proportional to the level of effort each one has put into it. That level of effort is going to largely be a factor of upbringing.
From there, whether or not either of them continue through high school, into college, and on to being hired by a professional orchestra is going to be more dependent on how well they're supported and encouraged in the effort then any genetic difference between them. Having friends that make fun of classical music and tell you it's boring is going to massively outweigh any genetic factor in the decision to quit or not.
How much their family, friends, and educators value the idea of them being a professional flute player is going to influence how much they enjoy playing the instrument which is going to influence how often and how hard they practice. Genetic differences like having a slightly thinner or shorter pinky then someone else will automatically be accounted for during the process of learning the instrument.