Post #378

Dark talent in Uzbekistan (or anywhere) Balaji Srinivasan, ex-CTO of coinbase, coined the term Dark Talent. Dark talent is everywhere. It's people with massive potential but they could never realize it due to geography (mostly), lack of information, lack of agency, etc. I believe Central Asia, and Uzbekistan in particular, has a lot dark talent because people there lack the intel on accessing the right information and opportunities. There are a lot of IMO, IPO, etc. medalists who end up teaching in a local university because they simply did not know better and lacked the guidance to access opportunities around the world. That’s why agency is so important. Especially when you don’t have access to mentors who guide you on what’s possible beyond the local university. Agency might not have mattered much a couple of decades ago, but in the age of internet, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be delusional and apply to CalTech given that you are a math genius or a god-tier pianist. You should still apply if you are none of those things, but that’s beyond the point of this post. That being said, dark talent should be cultivated by the state or the community because opportunity is not evenly distributed everywhere. El-Yurt Umidi is an amazing program that sort of goes in line with that philosophy because it directly gives access to the global network of higher educational institutions to everyone in Uzbekistan. I still don’t believe universities are key to unlocking your full potential, but for someone from Uzbekistan, it opens a lot of doors to reach your peak intellectual state faster. If you know dark talent who have no idea on what to do with their life, always try to help them. For free. Never capitalize on it with your consulting services. You never know - you might be one conversation away from changing their life. @noordievdev