The book Cradles of Eminence does something similar - the authors read a massive amount of biographies of eminent people and wrote about the common threads in their childhoods. The book corroborates what has already been mentioned in this post on the importance of intellectually stimulating environments and tutoring. The book's subjects also tended to grow up in natural settings, came into conflict with the education system and society (unclear whether this is a cause or an effect of their giftedness), experienced a disability or early frailty that set them apart from their peers and forced them to adapt, had households with a domineering parent (usually a mother) who pushed them to succeed, and experienced certain kinds of trauma or neglect.
From "Do the opposite if you have problems with acid reflux.", I would say the post is referring to the foot of the bed, because elevating that side would cause stomach acid to flow into the throat more easily. I'm curious about the reasoning behind elevating that side, though.