Posted on 03/17/2019 4:37:22 AM PDT by vannrox
This is a problem for the Elites, because they can see how mediocre their own offspring often are. It's a genetic phenomenon called "regression to the mean", where exceptional parents do not necessarily produce exceptional children.
The Elites do not want their children to have to compete in a meritocracy with the offspring of the non-elites. The non-elites (because there are so many of us) will tend to produce some exceptional kids (along with the usual proportion of mediocre ones).
From linked in
Clifton Mark- I’m a political theorist turned freelance writer. I write on political theory, culture, wellness, psychology, relationships, and other topics. Bylines at CBC, The Atlantic, and Aeon.
He has a Ph.D. in Philosophy and has held numerous jobs but only manages to keep them for a year or two. Now he is a “Freelance writer” which is another way of saying no one will hire him. He now spends his time writing articles on why it’s not his fault is isn’t successful.
“Canadian English perhaps?”
It seems to me that English has not been taught in America for at least forty years. I have always enjoyed reading and so I seem to notice the changes in language more than others I know.
When I was very young I read things and tried with my limited experience to understand exactly what the writer was saying. At some point I realized that I was often uncertain as to what the writer meant to say. Now, as I approach my seventy fifth birthday I often read something and wonder if the writer had any idea what he wanted to say because it is clear that the writer did not succeed in saying anything that is identifiable. One of my favorite lines to recall is Christopher Hitchens comment on a thesis written by Michelle Obama. Hitchens said that it was not written in any known language.
Hmmm, well then... I wonder how much that cost?! :)
There's currently a scandal in the field of Neurosurgery? Really?
Regards,
I’m sure that if this fellow ever needs surgery, he won’t look for the best surgeon. And when he drives over a bridge, he doesn’t care if the engineers were competent.
Utopia has been tried. It failed. Move on. Even in a utopia, there is a meritocracy. Every group, every person embodies meritocracy it is human nature to use one’s merits to get ahead. Other words for meritocracy is experience and achievements. Stupidity is a disease you can not cure no matter how much ejumucation one goes through.
In the Service you must choose the lesser of two weevils.
Good point, I hadn't considered that...
Heh, hence the visual imagery of the elites on their elevated platforms using their polo mallets to beat down the climbers from the lower levels...:)
I think that is what the guy in the linked video said...if you have the aptitude and talent, following your dreams is possible to do, but in case you don’t, you end up on American Idol, crushed when the judges vote you down unanimously because you really DON’T have talent in the areas you are passionate about!
Depends on your dreams and, potentially, your connections or family wealth, too.
Look at all the kids of pols with no particular charm or insight, working on the network morning shows, etc.
That is absolutely true. It all plays into it...now, if I had a passion to be a talking head on one of those things, I would be inclined to take a hard look at my passions!
It doesn’t matter how many powerful people you know, if they all think you’re a dick.
Decades go by, but the excuses never change. Rand’s fictive ridicule of them is one of the main reasons her work remains so hated by those who like to use them. :)
I was going to say the same thing but you beat me to it.
And of course we know this guy’s preferred alternative: socialism.
Socialism is always the first choice of people who can’t face up to the fact that we live in a hard, imperfect world. It’s their escape.
The author has a point - hard to believe in meritocracy when you realize that someone was paid real money to write this drivel.
By “people skills,” I meant he was a good con man. DOS was a piece of junk. Windows, in all its bloated iterations, is a piece of junk. VB is a piece of junk. Office is no better or worse than half a dozen other integrated suites but costs ten times as much.
But Windows is the universal standard for laptop computing. Go figure ...
Who was it that said “Luck is the residue of hard work”?
“Bill Gates made billions by also having the ability to make his vision a reality, through a combination of good people skills, perseverance, risk-taking, lying, and stealing other folks’ ideas. Anyone with THAT skill set is more likely to strike it rich than someone who is just smart.”
We have a winner!
In my almost 60 years I have noted that truly successful people, regardless of the field, also have good “people skills” and it is those skills that sets them apart. The really successful people don’t really ‘do’ what their initial skill-set would indicate. When was the last time Bill Gates wrote code? I mean really applied himself to it?
Not knocking Bill Gates here. If he hadn’t done it, probably somebody among his peer group would have. Plus, Billy-boy caught the technological wave perfectly. Had he been a little late, or a little early to the party, he also wouldn’t be (exactly) where he is today.
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