The reason I think a few of us are talking about these limits in potential is due to our experiences in the workplace. In every technical workplace I have worked in, there seems to be only a handfull of people who really seem to know what they are doing in their field. I think some of the more intuitive educators are also aware of these limitations in people.
This small group often find themselves having to document the technical work and procedures to such a detailed level, it is likely a lot of uneducated people could perform the work. It is often also necessary to direct these people to what document or procedure to follow for each task they are assigned to perform.
A lot of the people having to be effectively babysat in their work are often the ones who had very high grade point averages in the field they are now practicing. Having seen some of the tests given in University and finding they often adjust the test scores to match some predetermined end result, I wonder if this is the cause of the rather poor performance in the workplace.
I have also seen cases where someone with what appears to have talent suddenly hits a dead end in progressing further. In some cases I have even seen some people lose some of their former talent. I have seen this happen to people in their 20s and much later. This is something I think happens to everyone to some degree. I suspect this may be a result of many different factors and may in some cases be temporary. In the movie "Proof", a math student mentions how if you don't accomplish something big by the early 20s, it may never happen. Given what I have seen in the workplace, I wonder if the writers are also aware of this happening.
Whether these people are aware of their lack of talent in their field is not readily apparent. I am not entirely sure if this is necessarily a lack of talent, a lack of interest or a lack of having to be concerned as management is often unaware of how much hand-holding these people appear to require.
