The most talented young people in a generation choose to focus their talents on the most pressing problems of that time. This can vary based on the era and the challenges that society faces. During the Depression era, the most talented people chose to be economists because of the economic issues that were the most pressing problem. Similarly, in other times, the most talented minds gravitated towards fields like physics, engineering, or computer science. It is not that these individuals are inherently smarter than others, but their experiences and the problems they observe shape their focus on the right things.