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Because, by definition, the most extraordinary achievements are only attainable by the small subset of people with the rare, innate ability to accomplish them —
by MontyCarloHall 3y ago
Because, by definition, the most extraordinary achievements are only attainable by the small subset of people with the rare, innate ability to accomplish them — that's what makes those achievements literally extra-ordinary.
If anyone could have the athleticism of Michael Jordan or the intelligence of von Neumann or the musical ability of Mozart or the artistic ability of Michelangelo through hard work alone, there would be a lot more people with those respective skills, and the skills would no longer be considered extraordinary.
- ResearchCode 3y agoExtraordinary achievements are not rewarded much. A random on Wall Street makes as much or more than a Terence Tao off just an old-money surname.
- MontyCarloHall 3y agoMoney is only one kind of reward. Fame (social capital) is another kind of reward, and in that regard, Terry Tao is far more rewarded than any random Wall Street trader. Some might argue that in the grand scheme of things, fame is a far greater reward than money. They say that you die twice: the first time is when your body passes away, and the second time is when your legacy passes away. The money earned by that trader will be likely be gone within a couple generations [0], but Terence Tao will be a name remembered by many for centuries if not millennia. [0] https://money.com/rich-families-lose-wealth/ https://money.com/rich-families-lose-wealth/