I figured this out on my own as I got older. The rules are made for the bottom of the barrel, because it has to be that way. The instruction not to eat tide pods is not for the average person, but they still have to tell everyone not to do it. It's like when engineers build for the most common scenarios, and then they have to work out corner cases. But they have to be fair, so the rules designed to keep fuck ups in line affect everyone. It's a race to the bottom to deal with the lowest common denominator, and if you're more capable than that it's suffocating.

And what makes someone not bottom of the barrel? There's people born with talent, higher intelligence, but the real thing that makes someone above that threshold is simply a willingness to learn. Unless you've got some extreme disadvantage, persistent willingness will take you a long way, farther than most people. What makes some better than others is in their behavior, not their innate traits, usually.