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Comment by ip26 | Hacker News Reader

It's a chicken-and-egg problem. As a toy example, to become a world-class athlete in some sport tends to require you start around kindergarten. Naturally then, you cannot wait until you are twenty-five to become wise & discover your purpose & calling is to become a prodigy at that sport.

It's hard to discover all the world has to offer while still young enough to act upon it.

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I think it's more about how can you make the most of your life despite being "pipelined". It's not realistic for everyone to pursue fulfillment by aiming to be world renowned in a specific area, for both the reasons you mentioned and there aren't enough areas where everyone to have their own individual hyperspecialized niche. However, your point does apply at a more modest level as well; if you're fulfillment requires costly institutional education, your socioeconomic background could close doors prematurely

The real truth of the world that nobody likes to acknowledge is just that. The vast majority of the population is 'pipelined' simply because it's logistically impossible for more than a few million people to be the 'best' (or even top 10) of the most obscure niches, even in our hyper specialized world.

I would argue pretty much every mainstream sport that will allow you to live off of requires starting at that age.

I don't know as much about other sports but for professional climbing you need to have started before 11 to make a living in the comp circuit.

Similarly, elite racing drivers typically start karting around 6-8.

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