He's right, of course, for those people who already have a mathematical gift, but the problem with that is that Tao has never experienced not being a mathematic

He's right, of course, for those people who already have a mathematical gift, but the problem with that is that Tao has never experienced not being a mathematical genius, and is no more capable of understanding what it's like to not be a genius as an ordinary person is capable of understanding what it's like to be one.