4 ms·
The title of this article is literally "meritocracy doesn't exist". Not "meritocracy is overstated" or "we don't live in a perfect meritocracy".
by darawk 8y ago
The title of this article is literally "meritocracy doesn't exist". Not "meritocracy is overstated" or "we don't live in a perfect meritocracy".
- claudiawerner 8y agoThat's because meritocracy is not a synonym for the idea that hard work has any value at all. The article isn't saying what you think it's saying if you read it as "hard work doesn't matter at all and luck is all that gets you anywhere in capitalism".
- darawk 8y agoI did read the article. > Although widely held, the belief that merit rather than luck determines success or failure in the world is demonstrably false. Yes, he offers a token line at one point that effort and skill can be relevant. However, most of the article makes a bunch of unsubstantiated claims about Gates's success being due purely to luck, and fortuitous circumstances (as though examining the right tail of the distribution is even relevant, of course, he also doesn't even provide any evidence for his claim anyway).