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by dannyb 5647 days ago
Sometimes life is unfair, but I hold as an article of faith that almost anything can be made better by getting off your butt and working hard. For me personally, there's almost nothing of value in that study. It wouldn't change my approach to life.
3 comments
JoelSutherland 5647 days ago
This article isn't so much about individuals and their decisions but society. The claim isn't that "hard work doesn't pay off". The claim is that "hard work pays of more for some than others based on non-merit factors."

Even if they are correct, this shouldn't affect our behavior. We should still try to climb to the peak of our local maxima. Even if hard work pays off more for others, it makes sense economically for me to work hard if it pays off some.

This doesn't mean we should ignore the study either. It is important as a society to continually self-evaluate to ensure that the systems we have in place are moving us toward our ideals. The purpose of a paper like this isn't (necessarily) to push a set of ideals, but to help us self-evaluate.

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gnosis 5647 days ago
"We should still try to climb to the peak of our local maxima."

Why?

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klochner 5647 days ago
The presumption is that people like to be happy, which I believe is a tautology.
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gnosis 5647 days ago
Happiness doesn't necessarily come from climbing to the top. Some people find the whole ordeal to be rather nasty, for a variety of reasons.
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klochner 5646 days ago
You're free to define your own objective function, it doesn't have to be fame or monetary success.
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CodeMage 5647 days ago
Why what? Why climb? Or why "local maxima"? Or just a general why, for the heck of it? If it's the latter, then my answer would be the following question: Is there any reason not to?
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klochner 5647 days ago
It would only have value to you if you were concerned with social justice. (not meant as an insult, but I'm guessing it's not terribly important to many people)
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brudgers 5647 days ago
The article points out that although hard work might pay off, owning appreciating assets pays off with significantly more consistency in the US economic system.

And unlike hard work, one can inherit appreciating assets.

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