tegwick
2d1282a61e
Restructure entity storage from per-chapter subdirectories to a flat
canonical set in output/entities/. Each entity exists as a single file;
duplicates across chapters are detected by slug collision and skipped
(first occurrence wins). Chapter views use {{ include }} transclusion
to reference shared entity files.
Add @{existing_entities} macro to extract-entities template so the LLM
knows which entities already exist and focuses on genuinely new ones.
Refactor _call_llm() from _execute_llm() for callers that handle their
own file I/O. 41 unique entities from 4 chapters (2 duplicates removed).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
1.3 KiB
Difference of Talents
Definition
The observable variation in skills, aptitudes, and abilities among individuals in different occupations. Smith makes the striking argument that this difference is largely the effect rather than the cause of the division of labour: people are born with roughly equal abilities, and it is their different occupations, shaped by habit, custom, and education, that create the apparent differences. He contrasts humans with dogs, where natural breed differences are far greater but cannot be made useful because animals lack the capacity for exchange.
Source Chapter
Book I, Chapter 2: "Of the Principle which gives Occasion to the Division of Labour"
Context
This argument occupies the final portion of the chapter. Smith uses it to reinforce his claim that exchange, not innate difference, is the driver of specialisation. The philosopher and the street porter were "very much alike" until different employments shaped them differently.
Economic Domain
General Theory
Smith's Original Wording
"The difference of natural talents in different men, is, in reality, much less than we are aware of; and the very different genius which appears to distinguish men of different professions, when grown up to maturity, is not upon many occasions so much the cause, as the effect of the division of labour."