Agreed, to some extent. The idea that some people are genuinely extremely talented and could be successful at anything is, in my opinion, unproven and dubious.

Agreed, to some extent. The idea that some people are genuinely extremely talented and could be successful at anything is, in my opinion, unproven and dubious. I think that human intellectual potential is highly adaptable, but we tend to ignore/undervalue the full path that led someone to excellence in a field. Also, we tend to rely a lot on weak heuristics to evaluate one's intellect. The strongest one (but still weak) is language abilities. The weakest and dangerous one is wealth/status.