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I do find it remarkable that someone like my wife can spend 4 years doing long hours in a lab performing scientific experiments to achieve one small but conclus

I do find it remarkable that someone like my wife can spend 4 years doing long hours in a lab performing scientific experiments to achieve one small but conclusive scientific result, yet someone else can publish an article like this in a seemingly legitimate academic journal, which buzzes from anecdote to anecdote like a bee with ADHD and doesn't appear to add more than an opinion to the sum of human knowledge.

scottLobster 4y ago
The more I look at the world the more I see how the establishment, in virtually every field of endeavor, has spent decades insulating itself from any real meritocratic consequences. Businesses and institutions don't want to compete, because competition is hard and they might lose. So we get shit like this, and any good work that makes it through is a lucky side effect. Doing a good job is often not a competitive edge.
- BoiledCabbage 4y ago
  > The more I look at the world the more I see how the establishment, in virtually every field of endeavor, has spent decades insulating itself from any real meritocratic consequences. In just about any field or area, if someone is trying to tell you it's meritocracy, they're just pulling the wool over your (or their own) eyes. The estabilishment/incumbent does not like competetion in any area. And the default mantra is claiming it's actually a meritocracy. Which usually translates to "we like the existing structure because it keeps us and our friends in power".
  - scottLobster 4y ago
    Yep, and to be fair it's always been that way to some degree. The most recent generations just happened to live in an economic golden age where there was so much economic opportunity there actually was more competition and meritocracy than the world had ever seen. Now we're receding back to something more resembling the mid-late 1800s, where aristocracy was a big deal and you had situations like the Imperial British military, where the enlisted soldiers were impeccable, but the blue-blood officers did things like carry pianos into combat zones, and caring about things like self-improvement was a sign of weakness socially.
- mdp2021 4y ago
  If I may offer you my own words, "the problem of this world is a problem of Human Resources".

scottLobster 4y ago

The more I look at the world the more I see how the establishment, in virtually every field of endeavor, has spent decades insulating itself from any real meritocratic consequences. Businesses and institutions don't want to compete, because competition is hard and they might lose. So we get shit like this, and any good work that makes it through is a lucky side effect. Doing a good job is often not a competitive edge.

BoiledCabbage 4y ago
> The more I look at the world the more I see how the establishment, in virtually every field of endeavor, has spent decades insulating itself from any real meritocratic consequences. In just about any field or area, if someone is trying to tell you it's meritocracy, they're just pulling the wool over your (or their own) eyes. The estabilishment/incumbent does not like competetion in any area. And the default mantra is claiming it's actually a meritocracy. Which usually translates to "we like the existing structure because it keeps us and our friends in power".
- scottLobster 4y ago
  Yep, and to be fair it's always been that way to some degree. The most recent generations just happened to live in an economic golden age where there was so much economic opportunity there actually was more competition and meritocracy than the world had ever seen. Now we're receding back to something more resembling the mid-late 1800s, where aristocracy was a big deal and you had situations like the Imperial British military, where the enlisted soldiers were impeccable, but the blue-blood officers did things like carry pianos into combat zones, and caring about things like self-improvement was a sign of weakness socially.
mdp2021 4y ago
If I may offer you my own words, "the problem of this world is a problem of Human Resources".