This doesn't make much sense and I think may actually be another instance of this paradox. For example, why would having an easier time in life dissuade someone

This doesn't make much sense and I think may actually be another instance of this paradox. For example, why would having an easier time in life dissuade someone from putting in effort to become smart (by your definition of smart)? Do you think people who have a hard time in life are compelled to study hard and succeed, as if somehow people living in poverty or in third world countries are putting in significant amounts of effort to become smart? Of course not, not because people in poverty don't want to be smart of course, but because they are compelled to deal with time consuming hardships. People who have it easy in life are far more compelled to study, to the point that the term "scholar" is literally the Greek word for "leisure". I wouldn't be surprised if you drew out two axis, one measuring an individual's hardship in life and one measuring how "smart" they are, you'd reveal how paradoxical your statement is. The overall population would show that hardship places a huge burden that inhibits ones ability to learn and pursue intellectual endeavors while having an easier time in life facilitates it... and yet if you then filtered out the bottom left group (hard life and low "smart" score), you'd see the exact inverse correlation that Berkson's Paradox is all about.