What do you deserve?

I have been listening to Harvard Open Course on Justice. It has been an awesome experience, though from time to time I get deeply troubled by some of the responses students give. What troubles me most is in the class where Rawlsian idea of justice was debated.

One guy named Mike argued that the society should be based on meritocracy. To illustrate his point, he gave an example of college admission, where he argued forcefully that he worked hard, and put in effort, so he deserve to be admitted based on his merit alone.

To begin with, I must confess I embrace meritocracy, a topic for another day, but I am uncomfortable with the fact that he is so confident that his performance and his admission is due solely to his own merit (you need to watch the video or at least hear the conversation to see that conviction), and oblivious to the fact that he is fortunate to have many who helped him during the process.

His intrinsic assumption is that his excellence today, which secured him a place in Harvard, is all his doing, his merit and his effort. Let us put aside whether merit or talent is arbitrary in themselves, it is a mistake to think our performance or excellence is a deterministic function of our decisions, talents or other merits. Whenever I reflect upon my past, I am often amazed at how fragile this path has been, and how much uncertainty it involves---I was extremely lucky to meet numerous people, who were so kind to give me a helping hand when I need them, provide guidance when I am lost, and share their wisdom in discussions.  They never had to. My teachers in high school and professors in college never had to discuss ideas with me to foster my interest and kindle my curiosity, they never had to spend time writing an enthusiastic recommendation letter which were essential for my admission to Williams, and then to Harvard and Stanford. Without their enthusiasm, things would be very different.

I doubt if anyone has a different story. To say the very least, everyone in Harvard got in with at least a strong recommendation letter. Your recommender does not have to write such a good one. It takes time. Even if you are extremely talented, he still does not have to. It is a favor done for you. Don't take it for granted.

I think when people are given some favor, even for an arbitrary reason, they get used to it, and think somehow they deserve it. It is because of this, we feel entitled to everything we earn. But we don't. We owe a lot to those who helped us.  We are lucky to get those help.

This blog is about uncertainty, which shapes our world more profoundly than we typically recognize. It is via recognition of its role, can we understand our proper role, can we shred undue arrogance, can we fully appreciate our fortune that makes us who we are today.

My hope is from now on, I can write a series of blogs on several issues and dedicate them to the people who mostly influenced my thinking, and inspired my interest. Ten years later, I can look back at those blogs, I will not lose perspective of who have helped me along the way, will not falsely think that I deserve everything, and will be reminded of the responsibility I have because I owe so many people.