I forget how the quote goes. Something along the lines of "I don't marvel at Einstein's intellect, but at how many Einstein's wasted behind a plow or in a dark factory." Theres no limit to the amount of people that have the intellect of Einstein or are as talented as Taylor Swift, its the mode of production that keeps most of them from having the chance.

I think what gets lost in nepo baby discourse is that, they aren't all failchildren. Many are actually talented. Its just that they aren't successful because of that. They're successful because they had the opportunity to display talent to the right people. That's what many people equally talented will never have and why they will never have the chance to be successful in a given field.

[–] urshanabi@lemmygrad.ml 88 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Original quote may have been the following by Steven Jay Gould in his book, The Panda's Thumb:

I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops

[–] BurgerPunk@hexbear.net 37 points 11 months ago

heart-sickle thanks.

[–] TheModerateTankie@hexbear.net 40 points 11 months ago (1 children)

That's a Stephen Jay Gould quote.

As Stephen Jay Gould wrote in The Panda's Thumb: "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops".

[–] BurgerPunk@hexbear.net 26 points 11 months ago

heart-sickle thanks