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Man, the days when a kid without particular academic accomplishment could just be "guided" to MIT by a teacher impressed by his intelligence and passion. Or wh

Man, the days when a kid without particular academic accomplishment could just be "guided" to MIT by a teacher impressed by his intelligence and passion. Or when a dropout could just wander into a physics lab and land a job as a research assistant. Neither sounds remotely feasible in 2016- these days, the available human potential and ambition outstrips society's resources to actualize it, by an order of magnitude. Coming decades will have to do without their Weisses.

Artoemius 10y ago
On the other hand, there were the days when you had to be born into the right social caste to have any chance for an interesting life at all, otherwise being doomed to a lifetime of menial labor. I really do prefer our current situation to 99% of the history of mankind.
- zepto 10y ago
  Those days are today: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/recruitment-resumes-interviews-how-the-hiring-process-favors-elites/394166/?single_page=true http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/recruitm...
  - jospoortvliet 10y ago
    That was an awesome read. Thanks...
- maxander 10y ago
  Absolutely true- things are more competitive now in large part because a much larger segment of the population gets a shot at it. I'm not saying things are objectively worse on a social level, far from it... but they were more relaxed. We could have both.
Alex3917 10y ago
Being at the right place at the right time is one of the most important skills in life. If you look back at these sorts of places across history, how often did they have systematized gatekeeping? Never. There's no shortage of these places and opportunities for any given field, you just need to cultivate the ability to surface them.
- maxander 10y ago
  I think you'll find MIT's gatekeeping is extensively systematized. : ) Which is not to say that MIT admissions don't sometimes revolve around human elements, and moreso the process of landing RA positions, but the sheer number of people gunning for these opportunities its its own kind of gatekeeping. These human factors, the networking and outreach and so forth that goes into "surfacing opportunities," are fiercely pursued now, to the point that it becomes another hoop to jump through even past the grades and SATs and internships that we think of as the "system." One can certainly learn to play the game, but it'd be awfully nice if we didn't have to.
NhanH 10y ago
I thought about that the other day. Then I realized that the world is changing very fast these days, more likely than not the places that will become influential currently does NOT have any gatekeeper. It's just very tough to realize what they are if you're not used to ignoring social signals. Think of YC back then in 2006. The main problem is that we only read and know about the path of people 50 years in the past, and nowadays, even 10 years could be too long of a timeframe for that to be applicable. You still need to be lucky, but I hope it's easier (to be lucky) than we perceive

Artoemius 10y ago

On the other hand, there were the days when you had to be born into the right social caste to have any chance for an interesting life at all, otherwise being doomed to a lifetime of menial labor. I really do prefer our current situation to 99% of the history of mankind.

zepto 10y ago
Those days are today: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/recruitment-resumes-interviews-how-the-hiring-process-favors-elites/394166/?single_page=true http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/recruitm...
- jospoortvliet 10y ago
  That was an awesome read. Thanks...
maxander 10y ago
Absolutely true- things are more competitive now in large part because a much larger segment of the population gets a shot at it. I'm not saying things are objectively worse on a social level, far from it... but they were more relaxed. We could have both.

Alex3917 10y ago

Being at the right place at the right time is one of the most important skills in life. If you look back at these sorts of places across history, how often did they have systematized gatekeeping? Never. There's no shortage of these places and opportunities for any given field, you just need to cultivate the ability to surface them.

maxander 10y ago
I think you'll find MIT's gatekeeping is extensively systematized. : ) Which is not to say that MIT admissions don't sometimes revolve around human elements, and moreso the process of landing RA positions, but the sheer number of people gunning for these opportunities its its own kind of gatekeeping. These human factors, the networking and outreach and so forth that goes into "surfacing opportunities," are fiercely pursued now, to the point that it becomes another hoop to jump through even past the grades and SATs and internships that we think of as the "system." One can certainly learn to play the game, but it'd be awfully nice if we didn't have to.

NhanH 10y ago

I thought about that the other day. Then I realized that the world is changing very fast these days, more likely than not the places that will become influential currently does NOT have any gatekeeper. It's just very tough to realize what they are if you're not used to ignoring social signals. Think of YC back then in 2006. The main problem is that we only read and know about the path of people 50 years in the past, and nowadays, even 10 years could be too long of a timeframe for that to be applicable. You still need to be lucky, but I hope it's easier (to be lucky) than we perceive