Re:Dynamic Programming is not Black Magic
by dahart on Sunday January 14, 2024 @12:15PM
(#38992217)
> “Bootstrap” is an imaged expression to point to the absurdity and impossibility of a task
This is an archaic definition that I didn’t know, and it’s fairly interesting. At the bottom of the opening section on the history of “bootstrap” is this comment:
“Critics have observed that the phrase is used to portray unfair situations as far more meritocratic than they really are.[8][9][7] A 2009 study found that 77% of Americans believe that wealth is often the result of hard work.[10] Various studies have found that the main predictor of future wealth is not IQ or hard work, but initial wealth.[7][11]”
Interesting (to me, anyway) because it used “meritocratic” which itself is a word that was coined with a somewhat different meaning than it has today. Meritocracy was originally used to point out that merit itself is an outcome of social advantages, not inherent skill.
This is an archaic definition that I didn’t know, and it’s fairly interesting. At the bottom of the opening section on the history of “bootstrap” is this comment:
“Critics have observed that the phrase is used to portray unfair situations as far more meritocratic than they really are.[8][9][7] A 2009 study found that 77% of Americans believe that wealth is often the result of hard work.[10] Various studies have found that the main predictor of future wealth is not IQ or hard work, but initial wealth.[7][11]”
Interesting (to me, anyway) because it used “meritocratic” which itself is a word that was coined with a somewhat different meaning than it has today. Meritocracy was originally used to point out that merit itself is an outcome of social advantages, not inherent skill.
https://reagle.org/joseph/pelican/social/the-surprising-soci...