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The Matthew Effect #shorts

2023-02-18 · Short · Ali · recording, 0:56 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Mindset, motivation and happiness · mode: Explanation and tutorial · tags: Lesson from a book

Ali explains the Matthew effect, coined by sociologist Robert Merton in 1968: people who get an early advantage benefit from its compounding, so the gap widens, as the rich get richer; awareness is the first step against it.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — The Matthew effect: early advantages compound

  • ★★★ Ali presents the Matthew effect, coined by sociologist Robert Merton in 1968, as an unfair reason for some people's success: people who get an early advantage in life benefit from the compounding of those advantages. — 00:00:00

    “people who get an early advantage in life benefit from the compounding effect of those advantages”

  • ★★ Ali's example of the Matthew effect: a school footballer in the A team plays with better players and gets better coaching, so every year the gap with the B team grows, and it gets harder for B-team players to move up. — 00:00:00

  • ★★ The Matthew effect works in all areas of life, Ali says: Robert Merton found that people given more resources or opportunities accumulate more of them over time, widening the gap, as in "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer". — 00:00:29
  • ★★ The Matthew effect is a particularly tricky problem to solve because it involves all of society, Ali says, but awareness of it is an important first step; he asks viewers what they think can be done. — 00:00:29

In the description and comments

  • ★ Ali Abdaal (channel): In a comment under the Short, the channel says the story was taken from Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers. — creator comment

Threads in this video

  • refine · Is success a matter of luck or hard work? — Ali presents the Matthew effect, coined by sociologist Robert Merton in 1968, as an unfair reason for some people's success: people who get an early advantage in life benefit from the compounding of those advantages. (00:00:00)

Mentioned

Central: Matthew effect

Also: Robert Merton

Only in the description or credits: Malcolm Gladwell · Outliers

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