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>>Agree and the book says exactly that; you need a lot or work and training on the piano to play Mozart. But this is a talent which can be learned. Are you suggesting you need to be an idiot savant to play Mozart? I dont follow the comments about savants with the comments about Mozart ...
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>Because that's what some idiot savants do. They play Mozart without all the training. According to your outline of the book, it's not possible because there is no such thing as innate talent.
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>Saying that and then dismissing idiot savants as 'special cases' just means that the author is making a statement and then ignoring anything that doesn't fit within his parameters. That's not worth the trouble to bother with afaic. After all, 'no such thing as' is supposed to take into account everything, not just the stuff that fits his opinion. If there are 'special cases' then they, by themselves, disprove his theory.
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>Suppose I said that nobody can produce a fruit that is a cross between an orange and an apple, and then you produced just such a crossbreed. Then suppose I said, "Well, that's a special case". What would you think about my theory?

I don't think you're reading my posts properly but lets leave it rather because I only highlight a book which is, in my opinion, interesting. I certainly don't need to argue the authors case for him and if someone wants to read it fine, if not thats also great.