You are not talking about the same people as the GP though.<p>The people who do 9-5 coding are clearly not often the same ones as those who have contributed to the Linux kernel.<p>What I have found is that, of the people I work with, there are some who are great at what they do. As they gain experience the style of greatness often changes, but the magnitude does not.<p>(I have even worked with people who become <i>more</i> risk seeking as they progress - they know it can't be done but they don't care as they are confident they can hack around it in time. Cooks especially, but some programmers too.)