It's a silly sort of comparison. Is reaching the programming competence necessary to hold an average software engineering job easier than attaining a PhD in mathematics? Yes, 100%. Is becoming a well-regarded software engineer by building large, complex systems or contributing significantly to projects like the Linux Kernel easier than getting to the top of your field in academic mathematics (tenured professor, high-impact papers)? I don't think so, or at least, it's not obvious to me that one is more "difficult" than the other. They take different skills and personalities, and I don't think that talent in one would necessarily translate to talent in the other.
> average software engineering job easier than attaining a PhD in mathematics
This isn't what I'm trying to say, I'm just saying that someone that can become good at programming could become good at advanced mathematics. If your criteria for good in advanced math is a phd then we disagree.
> They take different skills and personalities
I disagree, I think the skills are largely the same. Programming is literally encoding logic using a programming language which requires mathematical reasoning ability. Programming is more immediately practical, accessible and requires fewer credentials and that's why I think more people become good at it than math.
I have absolutely no problem being a 10x developer. While I might be a better than average developer I am not more than 10x more talented than my peers.
I have no problem achieving 10x status because I ask better questions and loathe doing repetitive work, especially out of social conformance. It completely blows my mind that most people strive first for emotional comfort, especially amongst a social reference group. Any effort moving in the opposite direction of that emotional comfort results in fear and possibly anxiety.
That is why I abhor software as a career. As a dumb soldier I feel like I am the least educated in the room and my delivery is inversely proportional to that. That is because, as a dumb soldier, I focus first on delivery. Focusing on delivery first means knowing the end state and cutting out all the bullshit in the middle. Military people think like that because they are highly assertive. The average software developer is meek.
Can you see the friction that follows? You have this dumb guy with less education that is a 10x developer but not because they are better at writing software. Nonetheless the output executes much faster with greater durability written in a fraction of the time only because of a difference in value system. That leaves the dumb soldier believing they are surrounded by a bunch of cowards.
