Misha! I've been meaning to read Kvetch since I saw you in the comments of In My Tribe a couple of weeks back. Arnold Kling quoted today from your section "Kids: decades long feedback loops" which really resonated and motivated me to read your full post. The phenomenon you describe in the "Treadmills and ladders" section is something I'm thinking a lot about at the moment (it is basically the conversation I had with my wife last night). You articulate the phenomenon well. Understanding the phenomenon hasn't resolved my mindset unfortunately!
Great piece. I'm especially drawn to the parts around this bit:
"My guess is that this isn’t just dumb. My guess is there is something else going on. Levitt gave another example in the same interview where a preeminent economist refused to offer tenure to someone who, it was unanimously agreed, deserved it based on their work to date. Yet the economist said that person wasn’t ready."
A lot of this may come down to the strains of Calvinism that persist in America's professional managerial class. There's a whiff of predestination.
In these circles, it's often gauche to assert that you might have worked your way into a position of status. It reeks of unacknowledged privilege. But you do have to show that you're one of the elected, which leads to these elaborate status games and signalling rituals. This, in turn, leads to the madness. We implicitly understand the contradiction but can't outwardly acknowledge it.
I love your line:"( ..) with all the hierarchy and bum sniffing involved." Makes me think of walking the dog, and meeting another dog. Always makes me smile.
"There is something deeply intellectually and emotionally resonant about Taleb’s world view."
Then you read his Twitter feed.
Misha! I've been meaning to read Kvetch since I saw you in the comments of In My Tribe a couple of weeks back. Arnold Kling quoted today from your section "Kids: decades long feedback loops" which really resonated and motivated me to read your full post. The phenomenon you describe in the "Treadmills and ladders" section is something I'm thinking a lot about at the moment (it is basically the conversation I had with my wife last night). You articulate the phenomenon well. Understanding the phenomenon hasn't resolved my mindset unfortunately!
Great, great writing.
Great piece. I'm especially drawn to the parts around this bit:
"My guess is that this isn’t just dumb. My guess is there is something else going on. Levitt gave another example in the same interview where a preeminent economist refused to offer tenure to someone who, it was unanimously agreed, deserved it based on their work to date. Yet the economist said that person wasn’t ready."
A lot of this may come down to the strains of Calvinism that persist in America's professional managerial class. There's a whiff of predestination.
In these circles, it's often gauche to assert that you might have worked your way into a position of status. It reeks of unacknowledged privilege. But you do have to show that you're one of the elected, which leads to these elaborate status games and signalling rituals. This, in turn, leads to the madness. We implicitly understand the contradiction but can't outwardly acknowledge it.
You had me at “never having been molested by an original thought”
I love your line:"( ..) with all the hierarchy and bum sniffing involved." Makes me think of walking the dog, and meeting another dog. Always makes me smile.