

"NBA Syndrome" Helps Fuel Spiralling Inequality - nostrademons
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/62118/

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pg
Wow, that was a really weird experience. I kept thinking "Well, people often
have unexpected views on political controversies, but it's so unlike PB to use
these bullshit rhetorical arguments." Only at the very end did I realize it
was another PB.

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paul
Different Paul Buchheit, but I hate those rich people too. :)

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herdrick
A twist ending in a comment thread. Nice work, Paul.

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nostrademons
The author kinda threw me for a bit. I don't think it's our Paul Buchheit (you
didn't just become a professor, did you?), but it's an odd coincidence. Plus,
it's on topic for startup news...

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dpapathanasiou
_it's on topic for startup news_

It's a bad analogy, though.

While basketball skills won't help you if you don't make the NBA (especially
if you've sacrificed your education in the process), skills you learn as a
tech entrepreneur _are_ transferable/useful if you fail and have to do
something more "practical".

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Alex3917
Actually collegiate athletes earn on average more money than their non-athlete
counterparts.[1] It's possible that this is not because of any learned skills,
which would technically make you correct. However, although collegiate
athletes often have lower GPAs than non-athletes, they have been shown to be
equally proficient using more robust measures of cognitive development.[2]

I think Julian Robertson (famous for hiring only athletes) said it best
shortly after he made his first billion shorting the copper market:

"I once said, 'Let's hire one complete nerd and see how he operates,'"
Robertson recalls. "We never did. It would have been fascinating."

1\. C.f.
[http://www.row2k.com/features/print_feature.cfm?id=82&ty...](http://www.row2k.com/features/print_feature.cfm?id=82&type=Story)

2\. Searching JSTOR for "cognitive development" + "athlete" should turn up the
relevant studies.

/Good thing this isn't Slashdot or I'd be modded into oblivion

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dpapathanasiou
Yes, and some i-banks are well-known for hiring former fighter pilots.

Still, we've drifted off topic: the original article was intended as a warning
to kids who risk everything to make the NBA.

My point is that same analogy does _not_ apply to tech startups.

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davidw
Yep, it's bad economics. NBA == tournament theory, which I think _is_ a zero
sum game, whereas startups are not. And while if you compare people on a "Nth
percentile" basis, sure, there are bound to be "winners and losers", but that
doesn't take into effect that everyone may be better off.

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omouse
Are we attacking the rich? or the military? or the education system?

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gwenhwyfaer
Probably best to avoid attacking the military, all told.

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henning
Those same people were the ones who made me miserable for sucking ass at
basketball, kickball, and all the other games I played in school, so I feel
conflicted about this.

