My talents are worthy of being paid abundantly.

The same job pays differently in two towns forty miles apart, done by people of identical ability. Pay is set by a market, a budget, and whoever happened to be in the room, and it has always been a poor instrument for measuring anybody.

Which is worth holding on to in both directions. A low figure is not a verdict on what you can do. A high one is not a certificate either.

Worthiness sits outside that arithmetic entirely. It is the part nobody in payroll has access to, and it does not get revised at the same time as the salary bands.