I suspect you fell into a trap there. Most everyone I knew with a really good work ethic knew quite a lot of stuff, were engaging to talk to, so on and so forth- great people, absolutely not stupid. But, hiding in the background was the fact that it would take them quite a while to pick things up, and they had a hard time applying what they learned outside of the box.

As for me, I've found the easier something comes to me the crappier my work ethic becomes.