<p>Well, I don’t know. I tend to think the “top few percentiles of ability” is what we want to see and identify ourselves with, but when it comes down to it, much of it consists of circumstance, luck, and what venues people have for expressing intelligence. Not ever picking up a book or bothering to go into academia doesn’t mean people aren’t intelligent or wouldn’t excel at it, it simply means that, well, they didn’t bother with that aspect of life. I’m a social science nerd too - which makes me extra cautious not to take for granted things I personally associate with ability are the only things that count.</p>