I honestly don't like this line of thought. I got nothing against you personally, just against the general idea, which I also see expressed as "natural talent".

I honestly don't like this line of thought. I got nothing against you personally, just against the general idea, which I also see expressed as "natural talent". Let me explain. I have had a pretty tough life, never had much of a privileged situation, but I achieved things people express jealousy over very frequently, and it's often attributed to "being a genius" instead of the actual effort and sacrifices it took. That line of thought reduces all the effort me and others had to go through to "luck". It wasn't us, it was the genes that helped us out. It's dehumanizing the person and their achievements and reducing them to a perceived "luck of the draw" that maybe if you examine the case in detail you might find out there's no luck at all in there. It was our own choices and priorities what got us somewhere, not some funky "luck". This works both ways too. How do you encourage someone that is sad because they can't do the things you can do? You can't precisely tell them "if you weren't playing videogames all day you could also learn these things" without looking like a complete asshole. I wish this "genetic superiority" argument just vanished so we can let people's decisions and efforts shine through. Similarly, people assumes you don't need help ever because "you are a genius", you can figure it out. My genes aren't even that good. I got a genetic syndrome that will cut my life short anytime just like it did to my only brother. I really don't want to hear how lucky I am for my genetics, it just makes me furious when I remember medical science has told me I am living on borrowed time and I just came out of a close call from gangrene due to tissues tearing up randomly. You can probably understand why I think this myth, in regards to "things you can do in life" really upsets me. I've witnessed people with Down's syndrome learn things an Average Joe considers difficult, and according to that myth that should be impossible, all because they really wanted to do the thing. Again, I'm not attacking you and I'm positive you don't have any bad intent in your belief, but you can probably see why I'd disagree with the notion. It's troubling, really, and it diminishes accomplishments done voluntarily to luck. Genetics don't give you desire or the ability to compromise, that's all on the personality, and people needs to see this. There would be way less people beating themselves down over not being a genius and they would instead see that they can't rise as high because they aren't really willing. But you can change that, unlike your genes. By removing that mental lock that makes people believe they don't have what it takes, I'm sure more people would accept their shortcomings and improve on them, instead of leaving it as some hypothetical act of God they cannot possibly overcome.