Trego's Mountain Ear

As I read of the many woes of Harvard’s last president, I thought again of Robert Merton, and how he might have described the situation.  You will, of course, recall that Merton was the first to notice and write up the principle of unanticipated consequences.  Another, that deals with cumulative advances is his concept of “the Matthew Principle.”  His second article on that topic is available at The Matthew Effect in Science, II : Cumulative Advantage and the Symbolism of Intellectual Property by Robert K. Merton

The briefest description I have is to just quote the passage:  Matthew 25:29 “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”  I’ve heard another variant as “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

Merton observed this in the university settings – the universities that have the most funds (like Harvard) get the most.  The researchers who have the most publications get more.  From the Matthew Principle, Harvard had a president who was a “have not” in terms of publications, chairing a university that is very much a “have.”  Merton would have seen her forced resignation as inevitable.  Call it the Matthew Effect or the Matthew Principle, the old Apostle described a fairly solid social theory.

Demographically, the idea of “Cumulative Advantage’ is well illustrated in the Baby Boom Generation and today’s politicians – Biden’s “Cumulative Advantage” is rooted in his birth at the end of the Silent Generation, and Trump, born in 46, is an extremely early boomer.  Perhaps Matthew might have noted “those who get a head start have an advantage that continues through any race they run.” 

We see and hear the word “Privilege” often thrown about, and it seems carelessly applied at times.   There’s a difference in advantage based on which side of the IQ norm you’re on, and how many standard deviations you are away from it.  Muhammad Ali and I were about the same size – but our advantages differed, and he was the world champion. 

This moves us into Merton’s “Cumulative Inequality Theory” – which I regard as much superior to “Critical Race Theory” in describing and explaining social differences in status, income, etc.  Ferraro built on Merton’s work and can be viewed at Aging and Cumulative Inequality: How Does Inequality Get Under the Skin? – PMC .  The concept is that:

1.  Social systems generate inequality and that inequality continues throughout your life
2. Advantage increases exposure to opportunity, disadvantage increases risk
3. Your life course is affected by those opportunities and risks, as well as available resources and agency
4. Your perception of your life course affects your life course
5. Cumulative inequality can lead to early death

Not that I’m trying to turn everyone into a sociologist – but reading Merton isn’t a bad thing to do when poorer theories are getting more publicity.