That's true. Sort of. I guess I'm inclined to think that the same avenues are still available, though they are less popular these days.
I think so too, but I have trouble imagining a child navigating those avenues without parental support and intervention. I mean, I can imagine a child teaching himself/herself at home, but the parent would still have to jump through whatever hoops are required of homeschoolers. Otherwise their avilable time would be pretty limited. But it wouldn't be impossible. I also think that so much readily available recreation makes it less likely that a child will delve deep into interests on their own. Why study physics when you can pay videogames? OTOH, maybe the internet makes independent acquisition of knowledge more likely - A child could find a lot of information and guidance online without needing a parent to drive them to the library.
I don't know anyone who has gotten a PhD in math at any university, much less a highly competitive university, but I do know a number of people who have worked as professional classical musicians. None of them are (seem to be?) highly gifted, and none of them had parents who did anything special to advance their education. Two of my close friends have dabbled in playing classical music professionally, and they learned in regular band class. The person I know who has played professionally (and without other employment) most of his life was self-taught.
That's very interesting. My kids are pretty decent pianists (not great) and one thing I've noticed is that all the other kids at their age level have parents who are more knowledgable and involved than me (but my sample size is very small). I bet it's because my kids are still pretty young and other children whose parents are less involved catch up later. Thanks for that information. I wouldn't have expected that.
