[akavi]

I don't know the circumstances of your life, so maybe what you say is true, but at least in my case, I had huge advantages in reaching the point where I could provide said value:

1) I was born in a wealthy, stable country

2) to, even for said country, well-off parents

3) with a natural inclination to mathematics/logic

4) and access to computers/internet resources from a young age

All of these seem like privilege to me.

[angersock]

...and were you to switch places with one of the great unwashed masses, and they were to piss all that opportunity away, they'd be fools still.

We all play the hands we're dealt in life, using whatever calculations make sense to us. We are "graded" by the effectiveness of these calculations. The fact that somebody else given the same inputs could still screw everything up or make the same decisions implies, to me anyways, that we shouldn't worry about or have guilt for our initial conditions.

You could have thrown all that wealth and opportunity away (as many do), but you didn't. Don't undervalue your own efficacy.

[tomjen3]

I too was born into a stable country but my parents were far from rich or even well-off (they are now, but back then they had almost nothing).

I have no idea if they have a natural inclination to mathematics/logic -- and I doubt it would have matter, my brother studies chemistry one of the subjects I suck most at.

I didn't have access to a computer that early, at least not earlier than my classmates, but they spent all their time gaming, I spent (some) of my time with Delphi.

It is true that my life would have been different if I had been born in Rowanda, but I was no better of than those I grew up with.

[vijayr]

I guess both you and the parent are right - You definitely had advantage over people from poorer/war torn countries etc - but you did work for what you achieved, it didn't just come to you for free :)