People that are good at academics have certain traits that contributed to their success such as being disciplined and following the rules. Studies have shown that these people usually go on to run the world and maintain the system that is built, but they don’t necessarily change the world or the systems. So, on the one hand, you could say that these people probably already had these traits and the system, such as school reinforced them.

How much of it was innate though? How many, how much was reinforced by their upbringing, and the system that they went through? What is nature vs nurture?

What about the innovators? The creators? The ones that change the world and break the mold? What makes them different? Can it be taught and nurtured?

Can we have the best of both worlds, those that are academically successful, but also innovators?

Let’s also think about it like this, for most people to live stable lives they will need those skills required to be academically successful in our current society. Most people are in the middle of a normal distribution of…talent? So, our current school system rewards these people perfectly.

It would behoove us, however, to nurture people that are on either side of the normal distribution. It seems like these people that do become successful make it despite the challenges they face. What would a system look like that catered to them?

How do we streamline the process of identifying the mold breakers? We can identify our doctors, lawyers, scientists, teachers, etc., but how do be develop the innovators?