>>11322354>How was Gauss so smart considering he was born from working class parents with no notable family members on either side of the family?Untapped potential existed in vast amounts in the olden days. In modern times, university admittance is based on meritocracy, and therefore everyone who has the interest and capacity to venture into science may do so. However, this does not mean that everyone has an equal chance; obviously, the offspring of people who made use of their intellectual capacity (who now inhabit urban areas and work in jobs demanding intellectual capacity and expertise) are more likely to be smart than the offspring of people who did not manage to climb the ladder despite public education being offered to all children for almost a hundred years in both the US and Europe.
tl;dr: everyone smart has already taken advantage of the largely meritocratic modern societal model. Back in the days of Gauss, being smart COULD afford you great opportunities, but it require some luck, due to an unavailability of good tertiary education and a meritocratic educational system.
