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Beyond the Merit Model
The Trap of Deservingness
The Reluctant Inheritance
As Homo sapiens we have over 150,000 years of successfully attaining abundant health, love, and wealth: An inheritance weakened by our reluctance to own our excellence. Tribal collectivism is the hidden culprit that pressures us to excel and then to minimize or deny the achievements when praised by others. Yet, we are immunologically designed to admire and be admired, free of false humbleness. But the cultural hypocrisy does not stop there. Merit is used to reward and punish conduct as if deservingness and performance were the same while ignoring our inheritance of abundant health, love, and wealth. Let me unpack these tribal restraints that control without our awareness:
The Misuse of Merit — The assumption that we deserve rewards or punishments confuses deservingness with performance:
Example 1. Two mechanics competing for a bonus: Mechanic A, who is a pedophile, has better trade skills than Mechanic B who is a devoted father. Mechanic A gets the bonus because of his performance although undeserving of good fortune as a human being.
Example 2. Undeservingly, good fortune happens to bad people and misfortune happens to good people.
