Most of us turn out like the rescued exotic bird which turns out to be a seagull covered in curry.
but you can also favorite comments for your own hall of fame, eg https://news.ycombinator.com/favorites?id=andybak&comments=t
The actual intelligence segregation is self-selected. PMC parents live together in the same neighborhoods. Whether you believe in genetic or social factors, the smart kids come from here.
In the 80s and 90s there was an educational culture that believed in finding overlooked geniuses regardless of where they are from. That narrative is completely dead. All institutions expect kids to come prepared with a resume from their youth, and have few avenues for identifying talent that doesn't meet their mold.
In areas where parents aren't demanding advanced classes, there is no program for the government to identify and separate top performers from the general student population.
Yeah mine didn't have it. And the teachers fought every attempt to do so because it hurt their metrics (who gets stuck with the lower class average).
Are you by chance part of the PMC and your local school district is of similar demographics?