[_delirium]

You can take it too far, but I think at a macro-level "luck", by which I mean random factors beyond your control, is by far the dominant factor. I do fairly well for myself, among the top 0.5% by world income, but I'm quite sure this is not because I am among the top 0.5% in world intelligence+tenacity. I like to think I'm fairly smart, especially when it comes to reading widely, in an interdisciplinary way, and making unexpected connections between different domains.

But honestly, I came pretty close to "winning" by the time I was 10 years old. I was born in one of the richest countries of the world, to well-off parents who were science/technology-minded, attending a good school district, etc. I also happen to have computer science as one of my strengths from a young age, partly due to foresighted parents who sent me to an after-school Logo program, and partly due to what feels like natural affinity. That pays well, while I could just as easily imagine being gifted in something less-lucrative, like music or history (I'm personally completely in awe of people who have perfect pitch and what seems like an innate sense of rhythm). I had to do relatively little on top of all that to succeed, at least compared to what other people would've had to do to succeed similarly. Basically had to not completely fuck it up. (And I assure you I am lazy as shit compared to a lot of people doing less well.)