This article asks fascinating questions and then answers them in a bizarre way.
For starters, the confounding variable among many of these folks is being rich. Simply being rich increases one’s odds of doing something remarkable because one need devote less time to the daily work of being human.
But also, there is no explanatory power here. To say “Woolf grew up homeschooled and alone” does not explain why she was special and her sister was not. I too grew up homeschooled and was often alone and got to see many other children in the same situation. Many of them struggle in adulthood. Today, my capacity for aloneness is much higher than most, but I am probably not in danger of writing a classic novel.
For starters, the confounding variable among many of these folks is being rich. Simply being rich increases one’s odds of doing something remarkable because one need devote less time to the daily work of being human.
But also, there is no explanatory power here. To say “Woolf grew up homeschooled and alone” does not explain why she was special and her sister was not. I too grew up homeschooled and was often alone and got to see many other children in the same situation. Many of them struggle in adulthood. Today, my capacity for aloneness is much higher than most, but I am probably not in danger of writing a classic novel.
Again, interesting questions; dubious answers.