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Buick’s New Father’s Day Video Asks The Question: Is Talent Learned Or Innate

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Roman and Robert Lys.

Roman Lys (foreground) and his son Robert Lys (background) are both sculptors at Buick’s design studio.

Sculptor Matthew Brancheu’s father has been in the automotive industry for more than 40 years and said it’s the main reason he decided to enter the industry too.

“Sculpting is a big visual thing. You have to have an eye; you have to have an innate talent. You have to feel shapes and forms and see things and see lines,” said Brancheu. “I think you have to have a knack for this.”

Throughout Buick’s new video, which was released on Father’s Day, the question is asked whether creative talent is learned or if it is just a thing some people are innately born with.

Elizabeth Wetzel has spent more than 30 years at GM Design and led the interior design of the Buick Avenir. She said in the video that her family was directly responsible for her interest in cars because their family time was mostly spent at automotive events and car races.

“We’ve been to Indy, we’ve been to Talladega, we’ve been to car shows where they had the classics, and it really became who we were,” said Wetzel. “My dad had a great deal of enthusiasm. He said, ‘You can have talent, but if you don’t have the enthusiasm you can only go so far.’ ”

The debate of nature vs. nurture is one of the longest running debates in the field of psychology. Those in favor of nature argue that who we are as people is predetermined by our genes and other hereditary factors, while those in favor of nurture argue that people are shaped by their environment, family, and other social factors.

“To me, both talent and education are really important,” said Sooshin Choi, provost for the college of creative studies. “Without talent, education alone will make it harder to be a designer, but without good education, talent alone cannot make you a professional.”

Check out the full video from Buick directly below: