Emil O W Kirkegaard

The unfortunate truth is that behavioural genetics has shown a true meritocracy is impossiblehttps://twitter.com/kph3k/status/1118910944090951682 …

That depends on what you mean by meritocracy. If you mean that people 'earn' their genes, then no. But generally, when people refer to meritocracy, they are simply talking about a system that rewards skill and effort. No matter where the skill and effort originates from.

But if the acquisition of skill and being able to put in effort are heritable, do people deserve to be rewarded for them? And if we can't evaluate effort independently of genetics (and I see no evidence we ever could) then how can we have meritocracy?

I think you're misunderstanding what I'm saying. I'm saying that it's still a meritocracy if skill and effort are highly correlated with genetics. As long as skill and effort is rewarded, it is meritocratic.

If effort and skill are heritable, do people deserve to be rewarded for them? This, to me, is a different question. You're not asking whether something is meritocratic or not. You're simply asking whether meritocracy is a moral system or not. Some say yes, some say no.