I would say that a high affinity for playing the games invented by others for the rewards invented by others is orthogonal to raw intelligence. In fact, smart people usually have a lifetime of being rewarded for exercising their intelligence on command. Where are they supposed to learn a healthy disrespect for authority when they have always been the darlings of authority?

I'd argue they are far from some of the smartest people in the world. Smart? Sure, some (many?) but I've known quite a few idiots in software. But I'd hardly compare the regular software engineer at a FAANG to some of the geniuses in the world.

But they put up with it because it's a career and not a job. Many of them couldn't handle a minimum wage or working class job. No breaks, short lunches, no wriggle room for life, permanent fast-tracks to firing.