Personal anecdote. I worked in a top lab in my country’s university. My lab mates went off to work in top universities, as is the tradition. The lab employed two top students in the country by some specific metric. People working there had not a common background, upbringing or optimized method of work I could identify.
The only thing in common was that they all been taught to play instruments at a young age. We could have made an orchestra with the people working there.
The way I saw it at the time wasn’t that they were smarter, but that they had the understanding that practicing was important and that looking or sounding ridiculous at their first steps on anything was a usual process.
It wasn’t that they had developed intelligence, grit or perseverance, it was just another day for them of engaging something new, a paper or work item, and getting down to it.
Lack of self doubt and emotionless engagement in unfamiliar topics is probably more important than a few points higher in an IQ scale.
I've known many people who seem so much quicker to learn new things than me, but they can't seem to do anything serious because they immediately get fed up with how "bad" everything is.
Write a poem? The title sucks.
Write a song? It sounds like something else.
Write some code? This is ridiculously complicated and will take years.
The only thing in common was that they all been taught to play instruments at a young age. We could have made an orchestra with the people working there.
The way I saw it at the time wasn’t that they were smarter, but that they had the understanding that practicing was important and that looking or sounding ridiculous at their first steps on anything was a usual process.
It wasn’t that they had developed intelligence, grit or perseverance, it was just another day for them of engaging something new, a paper or work item, and getting down to it.
Lack of self doubt and emotionless engagement in unfamiliar topics is probably more important than a few points higher in an IQ scale.