Yes. Matt's point is that we are in general selecting for intelligence and NOT true merit, e.g., honesty, integrity, bravery, and all of the traditional values.

Yes. Matt's point is that we are in general selecting for intelligence and NOT true merit, e.g., honesty, integrity, bravery, and all of the traditional values. We seem to be selecting based on pure cleverness, and his point is that this alone creates quite a lot of success for people who are by most definitions terrible people. I don't see any issue with his argument, I believe he is on to something here. And because these intelligent but otherwise unprincipled people are raised up, they degrade the larger culture, the politics, and the economy for everyone.