Memorization is difficult but it doesnt differentiate enough to escape into a smaller pool of competition. The more people you are competing with, the less you

Memorization is difficult but it doesnt differentiate enough to escape into a smaller pool of competition. The more people you are competing with, the less you get for the same work. I think the barrier to entry for tech, which is highly paid and cushy relatively, is that it's built entirely on a different foundation of skills like mah and science. Many other jobs that have just as high or higher ceiling of skill or difficulty revolve around social skills (sales) memorization, or even willingness to defer to authority or group will. (Affiliation is important to them) In a way, tech jobs are highly paid in the abnormal way that garbage men are highly paid relativeley. Instead of being a dirty job, it a job that required certain levels of social ostracism and investment in unpopular subjects. children who grew up in environments where such learning wasnt ostracized have a huge adavantage in that they also have a foundation of social skills. Instead of competing with other kids on who was more gangster, they compete on who can 3d print the coolest thing. Tech in silicon valley at least, leans libertarian and individual. The lack of social impetus in their decisions allows radical thinking(good and bad), but also dissociates them from seeking things like the heros status that comes with an EMT job. It also makes them unaware of super high level social skills like running a company and politics in general which makes them unaware when they arebeinf socially manipulated. ("Making the world a better place") As an aside, a lot of manipulation is possible because of deep seeted insecurities. For locals, its the lack of social acceptance earlier in life. I suspect immigrants dont care too much about this and just want the money, so this vector is used to attract locals. (Turban wearing EMT wont get mich use out of the hero-status as hero-status is too deeply culturally embedded) The biggest counterargument I can think of against this theory is that in China, where top students have the same prestige as the quarterback/cheerleader in the US, tech jobs are still relatively highly paid. (Though they often work crazy hours compared to sikicon valley) Maybe it's a progression of math education. The US has terrible output, so math related job seekers have a low pool if competition. China has higher output, but b/c its still rote memorization based and knowledge seeking is still about seeking status, the output still is less than half. They work harder, but the limited pool allows them to command a higher salary. An education technique that promotes true interest in math may create an equal split, making job compensation equal to difficulty.