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Complex Systems Won’t Survive the Competence Crisis
PALLADIUM ^ | JUNE 1, 2023 | HAROLD ROBERTSON

Posted on 01/11/2024 9:26:29 AM PST by GaltMeister

The core issue is that changing political mores have established the systematic promotion of the unqualified and sidelining of the competent. This has continually weakened our society’s ability to manage modern systems. At its inception, it represented a break from the trend of the 1920s to the 1960s, when the direct meritocratic evaluation of competence became the norm across vast swaths of American society.

(Excerpt) Read more at palladiummag.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; History
KEYWORDS: competency; competent
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A somewhat long but interesting read on why everything seems to be breaking these days ...
1 posted on 01/11/2024 9:26:29 AM PST by GaltMeister
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To: GaltMeister

What, you mean that forced diversity for the sake of diversity isn’t a good thing? Well, golly!


2 posted on 01/11/2024 9:28:37 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: GaltMeister

The IQ Gap is both real and significant.


3 posted on 01/11/2024 9:31:39 AM PST by ComputerGuy (Heavily-medicated for your protection)
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To: GaltMeister

We can always Google it.


4 posted on 01/11/2024 9:34:03 AM PST by JZelle
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To: GaltMeister
the systematic promotion of the unqualified and sidelining of the competent

***************

What could go wrong?

5 posted on 01/11/2024 9:38:34 AM PST by Starboard
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To: ComputerGuy

We MUST follow the science, except when the science generates inconvenient truths.


6 posted on 01/11/2024 9:40:28 AM PST by who_would_fardels_bear (What is left around which to circle the wagons?)
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To: GaltMeister

Problem is, that competency was based heavily upon a higher-education degree, while those institutions employed people who themselves were incompetent. Those incompetents began the snowball affect as education rolled down hill gaining momentum as they descended. On paper they were competent, in the real world they were over their in over heads. The results were inevitable.


7 posted on 01/11/2024 9:43:07 AM PST by Robert DeLong
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To: GaltMeister
I've been called at every hour for a "down" manufacturing production line. The tradesmen are at their wits end and feeling the heat. A blown 460 fuse on a phase, debris jammed in pumps, transformer yards with burnt connections @26,000 Volt lugs, processor fault reset, output edits for a bad output, yadda, yadda, yadda......all stuff any competent maintenance guy or gal should be able to fix when the company is losing $30,000 per hour of production.

If you can fix it....nobody cares about your biases, diversity goals, gender, pronouns, color or nationality. That's why you're contracted. Safe from the DEI Director and Safety guy.

$12K for an hours work using their spares. I love DEI goals in the industrial workforce. I could be busy until the day I die if I want to be. It gets worse and worse every year.

Watch the movie "Brazil" from the mid 1980's. That is exactly where we are today in our Dystopia.

8 posted on 01/11/2024 9:43:17 AM PST by blackdog ((Z28.310) My dog Sam eats purple flowers.)
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To: Robert DeLong

Competent or Dunning - Kruger competent?


9 posted on 01/11/2024 9:43:59 AM PST by blackdog ((Z28.310) My dog Sam eats purple flowers.)
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To: GaltMeister

The incompetent have used the stupid to ensure that policies at all levels disincentivising meritocracy. Basically relabeling it as a “bad thing” and and even coming up with the new pejorative of “able-ism”.


10 posted on 01/11/2024 9:44:02 AM PST by Dead Corpse (A Psalm in napalm...)
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To: Starboard

As if that were an unintended consequence.

The people orchestrating this have a cadre of people in vital fields they can pull together at need to create a bubble of civilization.

The idea is to let the rest of the world fall into hellish chaos so that they accept slavery in exchange for “rescue” from the problem their enslavers caused.

Do likewise. Store real working knowledge and create groups of people who can band together. The globalists will really hate it when they find they’re not going to rule much at all.


11 posted on 01/11/2024 9:45:07 AM PST by No.6
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To: blackdog
Well obviously Dunning - Kruger, but was that from the higher-education administrators initially, or were they hiring Dunning - Kruger competent people on purpose to destroy America from within?

I believe the latter played a huge role.

12 posted on 01/11/2024 9:47:53 AM PST by Robert DeLong
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To: GaltMeister

I first maintained and operated nuclear power plants starting in 1984. I now teach technicians how to maintain them and the leaders how to manage nuclear power plants.

Anecdotally I will testify to the truth of this. Individuals hired now are so far below the baseline and demonstrate so little aptitude for the technologies employed as to actually worry me.

To be clear there is an obvious hiring bias and it has NOTHING to do with skill or aptitude.


13 posted on 01/11/2024 10:01:23 AM PST by Skwor
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To: GaltMeister

Hence the push for so-called Artificial Intelligence (AI).

I’d contend AI is just a more complex set of instructions in software, and more access to data.

Still, the complexity of today’s software is beyond many people’s control and understanding also. It will only get worse, until the machines really do take over...


14 posted on 01/11/2024 10:02:35 AM PST by Alas Babylon! (Repeal the Patriot Act; Abolish the DHS; reform FBI top to bottom!)
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To: No.6

“The idea is to let the rest of the world fall into hellish chaos so that they accept slavery in exchange for “rescue” from the problem their enslavers caused.”

*************

The idea is also to grow the government ever larger thereby simultaneously expanding (1) their control over us and (2) enabling more opportunities for graft and corruption.

The obvious answer is to cut down the size, power and scope of government but neither party wants to do it. To them big government is the platform that enables all their powers over us.

The Founding Fathers tried to warn us about the dangers of big government but we didn’t listen.


15 posted on 01/11/2024 10:05:28 AM PST by Starboard
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To: Robert DeLong
It may sound weird to you, but way down deep the cause for this dystopian nightmare happens to be lawyers and politics. Lawyers rule over private manufacturing and infrastructure in general. You've gotta peel the onion way back though to spot it.

"Blackdog, our building #27 has no power to the forming die hydraulic pumps"

"Have you checked for power on all phases from the device to the source?"

"Well, no because our safety policy requires arc flash gear and our corporate safety manager says we could be fired for opening that cabinet"

"Nobody will do anything to you if you FIX IT!"

Yeah, but we're not certain that's the problem, so can you come look at it for us? What time can you get here?"

"Ok. Give me a PO# for the trip in."

Management comes nowhere near true problems. They remain as far away as possible until the coast is clear.

16 posted on 01/11/2024 10:10:59 AM PST by blackdog ((Z28.310) My dog Sam eats purple flowers.)
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To: Skwor

“I first maintained and operated nuclear power plants starting in 1984. I now teach technicians how to maintain them and the leaders how to manage nuclear power plants.

Anecdotally I will testify to the truth of this. Individuals hired now are so far below the baseline and demonstrate so little aptitude for the technologies employed as to actually worry me.

To be clear there is an obvious hiring bias and it has NOTHING to do with skill or aptitude.”

BTTT

Well said. I miss “old America” when people took pride in being competent and doing an excellent job.


17 posted on 01/11/2024 10:15:35 AM PST by Chgogal (Welcome to Fuhrer Biden's Weaponized Fascist Banana Republic! It's the road to hell)
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To: Alas Babylon!
AI can't turn a wrench, dig a ditch, drive a Genie Boom, measure resistance at device, pull new conductors, or weld a broken gearbox casing back together. Until AI comes up with a capability to overcome stupid humans and figures out why your sewage is flowing from the air ducts, I think we're safe.

The AI fear craze reminds me exactly if the Y2K loonies 1n the late 1990's. The jails should be filled with the little empire builders over that fiasco of lies and deception for profit.

18 posted on 01/11/2024 10:16:28 AM PST by blackdog ((Z28.310) My dog Sam eats purple flowers.)
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To: ComputerGuy

IQ is obviously racist. So is math.

AI needs to be programmed to learn that.

;-)


19 posted on 01/11/2024 10:16:29 AM PST by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: blackdog

What AI can do is propagandize Deep State talking points, find dissenters to turn them over to the authorities for “re-education”, discriminate against white males in higher education and employment.

There is absolutely nothing to worry about...

;-)


20 posted on 01/11/2024 10:18:40 AM PST by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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