Really, it's pretty obvious that talented people in any field learn faster and go farther than their average peers.
I suspect that a lot of our society's romantic ideas about education and success stem from changes in our economy that leave many people behind. Western society is becoming increasingly technological, and if you want to get a decent job, you have to have a decent amount of education. Many of the skilled and semi-skilled jobs have gone overseas, and salaries for many of the ones that remain behind haven't kept pace with their levels forty years ago.
So if you pretend that practice is far more important than talent, you can tell people that they have more control over their futures than they actually do.
