Great article! Meritocrats do not surrender to an aristocracy of talent. Talent may be an awesome gift, and it can give you a superb start—but right behind you is a stream of talented competitors grinding to overtake you. And when they do, they’ve earned it. 😉
What should be understood from this is the fact that nothing beats persistence. Talent and being smart are enough to win small prizes and be trivially impressive. But to get anywhere it doesn't matter how gifted you are - hard grind is almost always going to be required.
Not totally always, someone somewhere always wins the lottery - but that's not going to be you or me.
Disdaining Strivers while stressing pure talent is a reflection on much of America's educational system from kindergarten through most colleges and universities. All credit to the Sardinian Antonio Gramsci who saw that politics was downstream from culture. In my time, I'm 85, you you were taught that repetitive attempts were required for success via The Little Engine that Could as well the saying, If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, TRY, Again, etc. In school learned about Thomas Edison's quest for the right light bulb filament, the Wright Brother's many attempts before success at creating a flying machine, etc. I do not know today's curriculum but Gramsification has substituted far too much indoctrination for actual education where the goal was thinking for yourself. The described change has taken a century. Can the lost ground be recovered in less time? If not . . . . .
Great article! Meritocrats do not surrender to an aristocracy of talent. Talent may be an awesome gift, and it can give you a superb start—but right behind you is a stream of talented competitors grinding to overtake you. And when they do, they’ve earned it. 😉
If I have to choose between a genius and a grinder, I'll hire the grinder for (almost) every job
Love this. I love American grit and hard work. I'll take that over french fatalism any day.
You nailed it hard. But so did Wayne with respect to the American attitude.
What should be understood from this is the fact that nothing beats persistence. Talent and being smart are enough to win small prizes and be trivially impressive. But to get anywhere it doesn't matter how gifted you are - hard grind is almost always going to be required.
Not totally always, someone somewhere always wins the lottery - but that's not going to be you or me.
Amen amen, I say unto you - if you can't work hard you ain't American. What is more American than setting a noble goal and working toward it?
Disdaining Strivers while stressing pure talent is a reflection on much of America's educational system from kindergarten through most colleges and universities. All credit to the Sardinian Antonio Gramsci who saw that politics was downstream from culture. In my time, I'm 85, you you were taught that repetitive attempts were required for success via The Little Engine that Could as well the saying, If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, TRY, Again, etc. In school learned about Thomas Edison's quest for the right light bulb filament, the Wright Brother's many attempts before success at creating a flying machine, etc. I do not know today's curriculum but Gramsification has substituted far too much indoctrination for actual education where the goal was thinking for yourself. The described change has taken a century. Can the lost ground be recovered in less time? If not . . . . .