It does make sense. Generally, I agree that some people clearly have a lot of raw talent. But also I think we’re very attracted to this idea of the “natural,”

It does make sense. Generally, I agree that some people clearly have a lot of raw talent. But also I think we’re very attracted to this idea of the “natural,” who becomes a virtuoso almost effortlessly. In my experience, most people who reach the very highest skill levels have both raw talent and a tremendous work ethic. And a lot of people who show early promise never reach their potential because they won’t put in the time. Sometimes the distinction between talent and effort isn’t even clear. There’s a documentary called Magnus about the chess champion Magnus Carlsen. It shows him as a kid, thinking about chess from the moment he wakes up to the moment he sleeps (and he probably dreamt about chess too). While others are playing, he’s staring off into space thinking about chess. That is some kind of talent, the ability to maintain complete focus like that over many years. I’d bet some of these Dota2 players in the top 0.5% spend an extreme amount of time playing or thinking about the game.