[cjwebb]

He was clearly a smart person.

I do wonder though, if the reason we won’t see his likes again is because he was truly a one-off, or that his particular environment enabled him to show his excellence.

I’ve been reading “The Idea Factory”, about Bell Labs, recently.

[voidhorse]

Environment definitely plays a big role. It’s a balance of environment and individual capabilities. When assessing intellectual contributions, I think people tend to underestimate environmental and structural factors (were you working at a place like bell labs, did you go to an elite school, etc.) and overestimate the “innate” abilities or gifts of the individual.

If you look at intellectual history, almost every genius worked in an environment in which they were surrounded by equally brilliant minds, or had ample correspondence with other thinkers of their time (of course there are exceptions).