There's balance to this though - I 100% agree it's by no means a level playing field but I'm also sure we all know plenty of people who decide they can't at all do something before putting effort in. While it's not going to get you to the top tier, work/practice/dedication or whatever you call it you can certainly get you decent at things that a lot of people just write off from the get go with "oh I'm not good at x" as if the ability is somehow innate. And as you're saying even in that top tier of those with the "talent", the work/practice/dedication is also still being put in