So interesting how people can read the same thing and get completely different lessons out of it.
I read it in a much less defeatist way: A big predictor of success for your kids is to deliberately surround yourself and family as much as possible with the best people you know according to the values and ethic you want to bestow upon your kids.
Maybe in those examples, but we're talking 20 people from 100 years ago. A lot has changed. Look at all the people earning good salaries at tech companies today. How many of them are from privileged backgrounds? Probably not that many. Looking at the bios of Forbes 400 CEOs or VCs or founders we see a similar pattern. Not so much being in the top 1% but more like the top 20%.
> Look at all the people earning good salaries at tech companies today.
They're obviously in a great place in their life, but thats hardly "exceptionalism" like Van Neumann was. Tech exceptionals are a different and more selective cohort (you said CEOs).
Take Steve Jobs - he wasn't wealthy, but he spent time alone as a child, and his earlier teachers gave him extra personal attention. His parents would share their interests with him (eg carpentry), and gave him freedom to learn from them and also learn from the neighbors (who were Silicon Valley engineers). He cold-called Hewlett (H of HP) who gave him a job at 13. He was starting businesses in high school for money. Steve was given a long leash to learn, ample minds and talent to observe, and was treated like a self-directed adult as a child.
Was going to say almost the same thing, except you left out smart. These people didn’t have just luck and opportunities, they were also highly intelligent.
Someone else who commented on your post used the term “defeatist.” I’d guess it’s even more defeatist to realize if your child has average intelligence, maybe you shouldn’t focus on them being the next Einstein.
Or, from a positive perspective, encourage your child to be who they’re going to be and given them every opportunity you can, and hope they’ll be the happiest, most successful person they can be. Because in the end, there is no recipe for someone to be made into an exceptional person.
