Seems a bit of a selection bias, in that no one who had their potential severely and permanently reduced from a young age is likely to be recognized as a genius

Seems a bit of a selection bias, in that no one who had their potential severely and permanently reduced from a young age is likely to be recognized as a genius. So you of course only end up recognizing "genius" in people who overcame whatever obstacles were presented them, or else had few to overcome in the first place. The best example I can think of is Chris Langan[1], though we only know who he is because he maintained some form of recognizable intellect in spite of his upbringing. Had his beatings led to debilitating psychological problems, brain damage, homelessness, or other things of that nature, we wouldn't be recognizing him as someone held back by his early childhood. Which sort of shows the inherent selection bias. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Langan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Langan