SIMPLE PROOF: Equality of Outcome is Impossible to Guarantee. This applies to the term EQUITY as well.
The topic of equality of outcome (sometimes also treated as equity) comes up fairly frequently in our world today. It is something that a lot of people seem to think is achievable. I contend it is not. What we can strive for is equality of opportunity. Equality of outcome cannot be guaranteed and when it comes to the lives of people is impossible. I've mentioned before that I can prove this.
I will go ahead and do that in this post in a very simple fashion.
Let's start out simple. The more variables you add in the more unlikely you are to see equality of outcome. We will begin with a situation where it can sometimes occur. For all of the above we will begin using the grid I provided above.
Here are the rules for this simple reality:
- There are two (you can do more if you want) people. I will call them A and B in this example.
- Each person starts at a random location in life. This can be determined by rolling two six sided dice and adding them together to get horizontal cell position and doing the same for vertical position. They cannot stand on top of each other so if you happen to roll the same position for each of them reroll one of them because in life we cannot occupy the same physical space at the same time.
- Each person can move 1 cell per turn. In life they would move simultaneously and if you want to simulate this without turns then simply give them exactly the same movement rate (speed) and simulate it. For this example though I am going to use turns and you can simply imagine it being simultaneous.
- The outcome that is desired is to be the first person to reach the square that is labeled GOAL. It can only be used by one person.
Give it a try...
Unless the people start at exactly the same distance from the goal they will never be equal in outcome. For them to be equal of outcome we will have to imagine that both turns for players were resolved at the same moment and equality of outcome would appear in the form of a tie. For only a tie would assume both of them could reach the GOAL at the same time.
The majority of the times equality of outcome would not occur. In this simple example where A and B are brought into being we cannot guarantee equality of outcome. Just like in life where you are born will change your outcome.
More variables...
In life there are an incredible number of variables. Every variable added to the simulation decreases the likelihood of being able to guarantee equality of outcome.
In the example above in step 2 when you find the position let's add another step there. Roll a six sided dice and take roll of 1-3 to be speed 1, and roll of 4-6 to be speed 2. Just like genetics in life some people can run faster, think faster, or have other advantages (or disadvantages) simply due to the nature of their birth. It is not a choice. Though with hard work they can often overcome these things. The fact they had to work hard at it when someone else does not to achieve the same results kind of defeats the equality of outcome as well. The argument is generally that one person has something someone else shouldn't and somehow we should make that not be the case.
You now have the speed and can repeat the experiment as often as you like with one person possibly being able to move either 1 or 2 speed when they want to because their top speed is 2. This will change the likelihood of equality of outcome being possible to being even more unlikely. It is certainly not guaranteable.
Life is many orders of magnitude more complex than this example:
The more complex the system the more difficult it is to guarantee or predict. Stochastics (aka chaos theory) supports this as we study seemingly chaotic systems like fractals, weather, etc.
You likely have by this time encountered the saying "A butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon and changes the weather somewhere else on the planet."
This may seem unlikely and seem silly to some of you. Yet it is intended to represent just how complex weather actually is. That wind from the wings bounces into some particles/molecules down there which move another way, and by the ripple effect eventually a simple molecule somewhere else on the planet being shifted a little bit might cause a complex system to move slightly different which might be significant enough to change the entire outcome. That is how complicated all the variables that go into weather are.
Yet I'd contend weather is less complicated than people.
Like weather we can go off of probabilities and perhaps get more and more better at predicting potential outcomes. We cannot guarantee them.
The push for equality of outcome is an illusion. It is an emotional appeal they use to manipulate us and make us view people with envy, or anger based upon what they have or do not have in life. Equity as a movement is a lie.
What can be achieved...
We can strive towards Equality of Opportunity. This means we can try to present as many opportunities to all people as possible. We can put the doors there in front of them. We cannot guarantee they all can walk through each of those doors as effectively or easily as some people. We can only present the door. We also cannot guarantee that everyone will want to go through the same doors. It will be a choice. If you choose a door that I choose not to go through then the outcomes for you will certainly be different than for me. The key is that we want as many of those choices as possible to be available to people.
Why do I say "strive towards" instead of guaranteeing we can provide all opportunities. Because I consider opportunity as infinity. It is a goal post we will always be striving towards.
We may have inaccessible buildings for example that a person in a wheel chair cannot get in. We build ramps that they can use and anyone else can use. We create an opportunity for them to enter that building.
Some people are healthier than others. We come up with exercises, training, and diet that are available to anyone. If they choose to take the opportunity to do that their health may be improved and in the long run it could end up being healthier than the people that were healthier than them before without training.
We can strive towards equality of opportunity. I think we should. We cannot and should not control the throw of the dice for people.
Exactly 100% right! This idea of "equality of outcome" is what's fueling the nonsensical state of the world right now... it's a fiction, a ruse. We should all fight for the universal right to equal opportunities, but there will always be entirely different desired and actual outcomes.
Your post is reblogged and upvoted by me. It is a good post. Thank you @dwinblood
And we should never strive for equality of outcome, because not everyone wants the same outcome.
Sure, most guys want to be the rock star and have girls throwing themselves at him
but few people want to be the rock star because they want to get up in front of people and sing and change their lives.
Even fewer are gifted enough to play an instrument well, sing well or write lyrics well.
Still, everyone goes on and on about just being lucky. Never the hard work, or the drive to be that rock star.
Even worse, we have the Pareto Principal. 20% of the people do 80% of the work.
You cannot compete against that.
That means a high achiever in any field is doing 4x the work of any normal person.
You can't work 4x longer to make up for that.
You can't work 4x harder to make up for that.
And if you tried to make this equal (equality of outcome) everyone has to live with ⅕th of the stuff.
This is the reason communism fails. Just try to live on 20%.
Most super-saver minimalists are doing good if the live on 40%.
This is all about feel good, utopia wishing stuff.
And most that want this have never strived for anything.
Never worked hard for a goal.
In other words, the people that preach equality are the very people that society needs the least.
Well said. I don't have anything to add other than I appreciate you adding value to my post. :)
A nice write up. Life is indeed all about choice. Just like you have said it good to try and strive towards effiviently using the available opportunities that life has given to us.
Thanks for sharing. I really learn a great lesson from the post
Even equality of opportunity will not occur in its fullest, ever. The best we can do is be reasonable with what we have. I do love living in a country where I can take chances to do what I want, but if I walk into a building where they're hiring 2 people and a million people put in an application, they will find a way to get rid of 999,950 of the applications if not more. It's a game we all play to bring self interest to the top of the list. That's a great thing, self-interest. It is through looking out for #1 (yourself) that things are invented, made better, improved, made more efficient, etc. When someone complains of not getting equal treatment, it is often bogus...not always, but often. We have billions of choices in our lives and can't blame our station in life after a few decades on someone else or "the system." People can move, change, learn, create, etc. I know a lady who is mostly paralyzed from the neck down and she wrote a book. She isn't completely paralyzed. She can move an arm and make a non-moving hand touch a keypad. That's the only limb I ever saw her move and her fingers could not manipulate anything. This same lady would spend an hour typing out a prayer so that at the end of a meeting, she could push a button to have it spoken out loud. She didn't give up on life. It was from her that I learned that if you can think and communicate what you think, you can improve your station in life. She did. She'll never have equality in opportunity and never equality in outcome, but she does have dignity knowing she can take care of herself as much as she can. Her nurses in the assisted living facility do the other 99% of the work (plus what her family comes and does to help her). If you were to ask her, she would tell you, via her computer, that she is an independent woman. She would even drive her wheelchair to church a couple blocks down the road using her one arm...amazing...
Yes, which is why I referred to it as infinity and an ever moving goal post we could striver towards.
There are always new opportunities so there is always more to do.
Yep living based upon assumptions about things we don't know is toxic.
If you have PROOF then we have something we can do about that.
Good post...it is useful posting
Thank you. I am glad you found it useful.
Who told me that evolution was wrong?
And what IS evolution? If evolution is true, then shouldn't we "believe" in evolution, almost as a religion? A guideline? This means simply that those who struggle to keep up should be left behind. But there are many ways to prevent that. Perhaps they have some sort of quality that grants them kind friends or a strong family. Then they won't be left behind.
But if a person has no one willing to help them, and no family structure to pull them along, and to be clear, if a person truly does not have even a single friend, despite living in a society of people, and has no family, despite having been born, and cannot even seek charity from those willing to give, and is not willing to put in the effort or skills to find a paying job and keep that job, then...
Then aren't they doomed to die, simply due to the course of nature?
If it's cruel, then give them YOUR money. Not mine.
I don't mind cruelty. It's why I eat meat, despite understanding very well that animals suffer and die for my benefit. It's not that I'm blissfully unaware. It's that I'm very, very aware of the suffering found in life.
And yet I walk onwards, even if the tears are falling down my cheeks. I must keep walking. The resources I accumulate through my hardwork and effort are mine. I cannot just share them with the world. They're mine. I suffered for them. I suffered greatly.
If I share them, it's only for personal friends and family. It's my choice to share and give to the unfortunate. Because I suffered for them. They're mine; any animal will tell you the same if you try to take their food or resources.
Anyways, @dwinblood, there's a new memetic going around. You got it before me, but check out my recent essay I published here on Hive. I'm not the only one. @alexbeyman also posted some stuff like this. I'm just calling it "Post-Skeptic Paranoiaism." It's a fun name, but it's sorta how I think people should feel. There was an atheist movement on the internet awhile back, but it just morphed into this socjus brainwashing movement. So skepticism didn't work. People still fell into new ideologies, thinking they were being smart, or on the right side of history.
But now I smell an even more furious defiance.
I think people are clearing the way to exit our plague-prisons and re-enter the light of day. And what we clear is not "our political enemies." We just want them to quit their cult and be normal people that we can talk to without fear. We just want to be able to be friends with people and speak our minds and not have them condemn what we say or think.
And I think there are enough of us that if we just spread this message, the world will change and refuse to cater to these ideological cults. They might kick, scream, or even punch you, but ...I don't think it would be very long before a crowd rises up to defend you from this attack. I just don't think these movements are as popular as the media makes them seem.
So speak your mind. People are starting to get scared that they won't be able to talk to people once the plague is over with. If you go to a stranger to say hello, what if they turn into "Agent Smith," and transform into a monster right in front of you the moment you disagree with their politics or religion? There's no need for there to be just one Neo. We can all choose to be the one who fights against the matrix.
I don't think we'll be alone. The tricky part is making sure that the message is spread effectively, efficiently, and without mercy. Mercy was never a promise that the world gave us.
Exactly! I tell people often I don't care what they think. I simply want them to think for themselves. It is not beneficial to blindly walk the same proverbial path as someone else when they very well could simply be walking off a cliff. We are not lemmings. We should not be sheeple. We should be individuals who can freely associate with other individuals and work to mutual benefit when we CHOOSE to.
It is not easy. Yet most things truly worth doing are not easy.
I've been attempting this for a long time now. For the amount of effort I have put into it I've only knowingly seen a few successes. I am aware there are others that likely were influenced that I am unaware of.
I have noticed if you can wake someone else up so they begin thinking for themselves the results can sometimes become quite amazing.
Once the shackles are off they can become some beautiful force of nature. It makes it worth it.
Oh and each of us trying different methods is great. We don't know which ones will resonate with anyone. A different technique might reach that one person that seemed resistant to every other technique, while what reaches them would not have worked on everyone.
This is why when I think of something new I just write it. It might mean something to someone. It might not. It certainly frees my mind from nagging me about it. I must write or my mind will not let me think on other things.
Hm. This makes me despair that any time humans get at truth it will inevitably just deteriorate into a way to signal status. There may at least be hope of getting good work done in the early stages of each new skeptic revival, before it goes pear shaped again.
Genetically, they never have the same opportunities; the mere fact that they were conceived by different people at different times makes this incongruous equality very unlikely.
I know people who are very talented and manage to do things with little effort, and I also know other people who lack talent but try harder than the average person to achieve their goals. The latter tend to be more successful because of their perseverance, the former do not always achieve success because they trust that everything will be easy, even though it may be so.
Interesting publication, I got involved in it and it seems to me a good point of reflection.
Genetically, they never have the same opportunities; the mere fact that they were conceived by different people at different times makes this incongruous equality very unlikely.
I know people who are very talented and manage to do things with little effort, and I also know other people who lack talent but try harder than the average person to achieve their goals. The latter tend to be more successful because of their perseverance, the former do not always achieve success because they trust that everything will be easy, even though it may be so.
Interesting publication, I got involved in it and it seems to me a good point of reflection.