There is increasing evidence that Asians, Jews, and others succeed because they have cultures that emphasize and celebrate hard work, perseverance, and most importantly, intellectual accomplishment. This suggests that without adequate and the right type of training, inherent skills are of little worth, and that disciplined training can overcome a lot of the gap in inherent abilities.
In customary fashion, Malcolm Gladwell has picked this very subject for his best seller, Outliers. I have grave reservations about Gladwell's choice of data. For instance, at one stage he uses a list of the richest people ever. Really? How did he arrive at this conclusion? For instance, in a book that discusses biases at such length, didn't he notice the information bias which makes the list ridiculously biased towards the recently wealthy? Having said that, the basic point of his book bears a closer examination. We are quick to ascribe human successes to the individual's merits, when in fact, nurture, environment and sheer luck may have more to do with it.
In the same vein, this article published several weeks ago makes amusing reading, as it debunks a bunch of medical myths.
