Self-made men and the invisible privilege

A few years ago, the TED talks were a very rich source of inspiration for those like me who liked thinking out of the box without necessarily turning anti-system. In the meantime, probably in an effort to diversify their content, the brand has go somewhat diluted with so many TED-related events around the world every year, but I remember one particular talk from 2013 that has stuck with me. Mariana Mazzucato explained that many of the inventions that are hailed as the archetype of heroic progress would have been literally impossible without the enabling technologies developed or funded by governmental institutions: in particular the iPhone, one of the star inventions of the 21st century, hinged on technologies like flat screens, lithium batteries, touch devices and the internet, all of which came out of the tax payers pockets.

This does not mean in any way that the idea of putting everything together was not innovative, but it is just too easy to lose sight of the fact that we are sometimes in a situation of privilege in what social psychologists call the Fundamental Attribution Error: we tend to under-estimate the influence of the environment in achieving a positive outcome, increasing the importance of the disposition and personality contributions. This is the fallacy of the self-made man who is oblivious to how important a stable society or a well-maintained network of roads is to the success of his company; without a solid justice system, contracts would not be respected and customers might choose not to pay, while providers might deliver sub-standard products.

Photo: OpenClipart-Vectors at Pixabay

In his 2014 book "The Hidden Brain" former NPR science correspondent Shankar Vedantam provides a number of beautiful examples of how unconscious biases influence the way we think. In one of the examples he tells in first person how powerful he fell swimming in the ocean, reaching the mouth of the bay in no time, only to find that he had been unknowingly riding a current and having a very hard time to come back when he turned around.

He also mentions the story of Stanford neuroscientist Ben Barres who, after transitioning to being a man, began to notice subtle difference in the way he was now treated. One day, at the end of a lecture, he heard among the audience the comment that "his work is much better than his sister's" although he has no sisters: they were referring to his work before the transition, when he was know as Barbara.

I come to think about this today in connection with my endeavor to reconnect with old friends. My wife, Karen, who often becomes to me like Pinocchio's Jiminy Cricket, pointed out that some of my former school friends might not be willing to reconnect with me, be it because they do not remember that time fondly, be it because they are not willing to discuss a life trajectory that does not satisfy them.

Growing as a boy in a upper middle class family, I have always been aware of my privilege among the society at large, but I always thought that the same was the case of all my peers. However, it had never occurred to me that I could be privileged among the privileged, because I started at a good place and got better. Statistically, it is to expect that some of my old friends did not have so much luck, so I will have to tread carefully. I will leave you with this thought today. Have a nice evening.