David asked:

How does one cross the barrier from ordinary to excellence?

To explain this further. When does a person take knowledge and training and transform into an
intellectual? How does this transition take place?

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Why are you asking this of philosophers? You need to ask this of psychologists. But hey, I'll answer it
anyway... believe it or not, it's quite simple, in general. If you have the potential for excellence, your
achieving this depends pretty much on no more than putting in tremendous amounts of time pursuing
some field. Simply the amount of time put in... which of course requires discipline to do, is the critical
parameter. And I mean majoramounts of time... like 40-60 hour weeks, minimum. I'm being serious.
That is truly the answer. But that's the easypart, answering that question in general terms. The hard
part is arranging your life so that you can actually do this. Good luck.

Steven Ravett Brown