> And how do you know most/many people aren't spending their times scrolling tiktok because they don't have the resources to do something more worthwhile?

Because if that was it, most rich people, rich kids would be all doing crazy science experiments and advancing knowledge. But turns out they don't.

It’s also plausible todays rich kids are descendants of people who have optimized their lives for making money. I doubt such parents make the best role models for aspiring scientists.

It’s possible that a society that has a more prosperous general population will produce more successful scientists.

You have a source for that claim? Patents are absolutely dominated by people with PhDs, which is highly correlated with family income.

https://www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/economic-fact/el...