If we were talking about a philosophical example of an apple tree in a remote closed garden, people would agree that the presence of the apple tree itself is a factor that plays a role to whether you'll eat an apple. No matter how much you can stretch your hand or climb a ladder, if there's no apple tree to climb there's no way you can eat apples no matter how hard you tried.
But the more we increase the complexity (like putting a store that sells apples close to the garden) the more people are willing to believe that it was their own ability that made them eat an apple, and not the access to the tree or the store.
Now increase that complexity even further and the noise will become high enough to make you think that everyone can get the metaphorical apple if they try, which is so dumb that is baffling to me.
I had an argument with a friend over the role things outside of his control played in getting his first job as a self-taught. We almost made this a political argument for absolutely no reason. He felt offended because I was trying to tell him that the country of birth still plays a role on not only how much money you can potentially make but also the ease of access to entry level jobs (unemployment rates are a thing outside of your control).
People would rather romanticize their self-reliance than adjust it by admitting external circumstances as ONLY A FACTOR to their success, to the point where they will feel offended and rather remove you from their life than admit the role of the environment and timing in everything we do.