[bluetwo]

I agree they exist. The article does too, at the end:

...highly productive developers (10x or otherwise) are problem-solving at a much higher level. Their productivity won’t be apparent from a narrow test, any more than the overall skill of a world-class football player would be apparent from (say) how fast they could run the 100m dash.

The most productive developers are solving big problems, and are bringing judgment and experience to bear on essential design, architecture, and “build vs use existing library” decisions. They’re designing key abstractions that will pay dividends through the life of the project...

[mark-r]

I think you're missing the point of the comment you're replying to. Yes there are developers who are more productive by working at a meta-level above normal, but there are also people who are just 10x more efficient at actual coding. Those are distinct concepts that may or may not overlap.