>'Well, the fact that someone has made it is proof that anyone can make it. It doesn't mean that everyone will have the same likelihood of making it, though.'

>'Well, the fact that someone has made it is proof that anyone can make it. It doesn't mean that everyone will have the same likelihood of making it, though.' Sure. Problem is, it takes a basic notion of statistics to grok a statement like that. That's something which, in the US at least, I perceive to be largely absent. What's said. / What it actually means. / What people hear. * Anyone can make it. / Anyone can make it with widely varying degrees of likelihood. / Anyone who doesn't make it is a lazy freeloader, except for me and people like me. * A are more likely than B to have a criminal record. / Though A are 25% more likely to have a criminal record, 75% of A have no criminal record. / A are all criminals. * On average, C are more intelligent than D. / The topic remains highly debatable, but some research has shown 1 standard deviation difference in IQ between C and D. Whether any observed differences are a matter of genetics or environmental factors is the interesting question. / All C are smarter than all D, period, look it up stupid.