Conversation

In many fields, the bar for virtuosity has risen sharply, and not because of what we’d normally think of as new tech. eg: The record marathon time 100 years ago would barely qualify for the Boston Marathon today. (h/t A Ericsson) Are there fields in which the bar has regressed?
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I can think of lots in which median performance has plausibly fallen, often because progress makes it less relevant—e.g. car maintenance. But in the examples I can think of, virtuosic performance has still risen!
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