Thread by @borrowed_ideas

1/5 Thread: Simple but incomplete narrative

"Can you imagine a better way to destroy social mobility than by telling poor kids that the way to get rich is by exploiting people, while the rich kids know, from having watched the preceding generation do it, how it's really done?"

2/5 In PG's recent piece, that sentence made me think: paulgraham.com/ace.html

I know many people would take issue with such assertion, but it is one of those narratives that even if you think it is false, you are more likely to be benefited by believing in it than otherwise.

3/5 Having brought up in a family with all sorts of simplistic teachings e.g. "just be good in your academics, and you'll shine in life", I have come to appreciate the power of simple narratives.

4/5 You can believe in more complex, elegant narratives, but as Taleb puts it, "your grandmother is more likely to be right than the Huffington Post".

Obviously your network matters. You would rather be in family with lots of business/political connections than otherwise.

5/5 But once you are born without such amenities, it probably pays to downplay the power of the luck factor in your mind.

Simple narratives are often holistically right, but because they are incomplete, it is tempting to discard them altogether. I believe that's a mistake.