| Let's pick one real-world example: Organ transplants. Do we select candidate recipients based on their life experience and/or accomplishments? Nope, we consider [0]: * Blood type * Immune system mismatch * Organ size * Distance donated organ must travel * Urgency of donation The closest we come to considering life experience is in two time-related criteria: Children and adults are different (relates to organ size), and time spent on waitlists is taken into account (relates to urgency). Certainly, a merit-based organ transplant system is possible. In China, there are reports of (involuntary) organ harvesting from political and religious undesirables [2]; these people have been deemed meritless. China continues to work to deploy a single system for measuring merit, the Social Credit System [1]. For hiring and jobs, we might imagine hiring people based on skill sets and job duties; we would consider people based on their ability to carry out the tasks required of the position. Just like with organ transplants, this is a pragmatic approach, rather than one based on celebrity or subtlety. [0] https://unos.org/transplant/frequently-asked-questions/ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_harvesting_from_Falun_Go... |