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We have too many people who are credentialed rather than educated, and too many people who think their education creates an automatic entitlement. The problem isn’t with “merit” rising to the top, the problem is that we have a false and destructive idea of what constitutes merit. – Glenn Reynolds
One of the most amusing accusations against Spencer Pratt was that he had no experience in government, no training in government, and no credentials in government. What made it risible was the patently poor performance those with experience, education, and credentials have displayed in governing Los Angeles. A Spence Pratt could almost certainly do no worse than they have done.
Throughout my life, it has been my experience that ability is only rarely indicated by the credentials an individual holds. An MFA does not guarantee the holder will write a book worth reading. Yet oddly, Andy Weir, with no credentials in writing, can turn out books like The Martian and Larry Correia can turn out best-seller after best-seller despite the handicap of lacking the relevant degree.
Perhaps closer to home, compare the academic performance of homeschooled children taught by those with no academic credentials to those attending public schools taught by only highly credentialed educators. The median performance of the home-schooled far outpaces the median performance of those going through public schools.
Yet credentialism has one strength. It removes the pressure on decision-makers to exercise judgment in choosing people. No one ever gets fired for choosing the best-credentialed choice, however incompetent or unmotivated the person holding those credentials may be. "Well, he had all the right credentials," excuses failure.
Discussion (17)
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Ironic that the same applies to the Maine Nazi candidate for Senate, if I'm not mistaken . . .
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That's different, because ... Den Mund halten!!!
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Luckily for LA Karen Bass was trained by Fidel Castro….so she knows how to totally screw up a natural paradise….
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"No one ever gets fired for choosing the best-credentialed choice, however incompetent or unmotivated the person holding those credentials may be. “Well, he had all the right credentials” excuses failure"
I think that's only true in certain circumstances. If you're running a revenue or P&L center within a company, and the well-credentialed people you hire do not contribute to good results and you miss your own numbers, then you're not going to be able to get away with saying "Well, I hired the people with the right credentials" for very long.
The "right credentials" excuse only works in areas where measurements are absent, mushy, or entirely subjective.
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Credentials can have value if those issuing them have integrity. Doesn't one want to see a doctor with appropriate credentials? It's hard to select what you want lacking a way to evaluate an individual. Good credentials can help with that. The growth of freely available reviews do so as well.
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