This is a funny example because I'm probably the only person in this thread who went to medical school (MD programme in Canada, but did not complete or obtain m

This is a funny example because I'm probably the only person in this thread who went to medical school (MD programme in Canada, but did not complete or obtain my degree), and I think this is a bad example. The meritocracy trap obviously does not imply that competence/merit does not matter: it implies only that we should be much more careful and critical about whether we measure competence/merit fairly and properly, especially a posteriori. I would say that your example illustrates a very shortsighted conception of competence/merit.