what is 'merit'?

This is something most of us think is a good thing - but what is 'merit' exactly?

the quality of being good and deserving praise:

MERIT | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

And what do we mean by 'deserving' what you get?

to have earned or to be given something because of the way you have behaved or the qualities you have:

DESERVE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

Most of us believe that 'merit' deserves recognition and should be rewarded:

In a meritocracy, the people are chosen who are thought to be the best.

Meritocracy - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But do we really 'merit' or 'deserve' what we get?

Do you feel lucky? The answer, well known to psychologists, is that you probably don’t. You probably think you got where you are today through willpower and elbow grease. We chronically underestimate luck’s role, and this seems to get worse the richer we get; surveys show that the wealthiest are least likely to attribute their fortunes to, well, good fortune. They also seem to be meaner: one ingenious study found drivers of luxury cars were more likely to cut others off than those in cheaper vehicles.

It’s hardly surprising many such people oppose taxation and government spending: why should others get a handout if they didn’t need one? The ironic result is that they vote against the very policies that helped them get lucky to begin with. In a recent Atlantic essay, Robert Frank, an economist who has studied attitudes to chance, quoted EB White: “Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.”

Yet to see this purely as a problem of the super-rich lets the rest of us off too easily. Anyone living in a highly developed economy in 2016 is already the beneficiary of stupendous luck – for example, not being born during the plague, or living in the modern-day Central African Republic (average life expectancy:about 50). Ponder that, and it’s easier to see why Buddhists speak of the incomparable luck of being born human at all. You might have been a battery hen, or a mayfly with a one-day lifespan.

Don’t think you’re lucky? Think again | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian

Jay Doubleyou: don’t think you’re lucky? think again

In other words:

Do Those on Top Deserve Their Success?

Many people who find themselves on the wrong side of growing inequality feel the system is stacked against them.
But who deserves to succeed?
Should we reward talent and hard work?
If so, what do we do about those left behind?
Do they deserve their fate, too?
And is talent, in fact, little more than luck?
Using a pioneering digital facility at Harvard Business School, Professor Michael Sandel is joined by 60 people from nearly 40 different countries.
Together they look for answers to these tough questions; questions which lie behind some of the biggest political stories of the moment.

The Global Philosopher - Do Those on Top Deserve Their Success? - BBC Sounds

Jay Doubleyou: meritocracy

Even the Financial Times is questioning this:

Architects of Meritocracy

Michael Sandel has written a book about this:

The Tyranny of Merit

And he makes a provocative statement:

Michael Sandel: 'The populist backlash has been a revolt against the tyranny of merit' | Michael Sandel | The Guardian

Here he is talking about this:

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Michael Sandel: The tyranny of merit | TED Talk

Jay Doubleyou: the tyranny of merit: we are not self-made or self-sufficient

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There are two new books out on this:

Inheritocracy | Biteback Publishing

The Art of Uncertainty by David Spiegelhalter review – a search for sense in probability and chance | Books | The Guardian

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On the radio:

Start the Week - Chance and fortune - BBC Sounds

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