Well, the book makes a very basic mistake by calling Albert Einstein a "slow learner" (see preface in Amazon Look Inside feature). In fact, Einstein was a highly capable student who was two years ahead of his age/grade level. He took the ETH entry exam at 16 after leaving school in Germany. He didn't get in because it tested subjects he hadn't studied in Germany (e.g. Swiss history), and because they wanted him to mature for another year (reference below, pages 28 and 81*).
The
slow learner myth is trivially easy to disprove. See
here, for example.
Given that the author used such a basic and easily disproven fallacy as part of the foundation for her ideas, I wonder how sloppy (or ideological) the rest of her book is.
I don't believe that "anyone" can perform at a gifted level by virtue of hard work. If that were true, 2/3 of my high school track team should have gone to the state track meet, because that number worked incredibly hard (the coach gave us no choice). Plus, lots of soccer players should make the all-stars team and most incoming freshmen should pass that relatively basic math test they have to take. But only 10% of my team went to States, fewer still make the All Star team, and a majority fails the basic math test. Etc.
Hard work is necessary for performance at a high level, but talent is an entry requirement. Lying to people and telling them "you can be gifted if you try hard enough" is cruel IMO, because it sets people up for failure.
*
Einstein Encyclopedia
