The Matthew Effect is a social phenomenon where initial advantages accumulate over time, allowing those with, for example, wealth, reputation, or skills to gain even more, while those with less fall further behind ("the rich get richer and the poor get poorer"). It applies to science (fame brings more credit), education (early reading success), and economics.
Coined by sociologist Robert K. Merton in 1968, referencing the Bible verse Matthew 25:29: "For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away"
- From online with editing
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Heard this phrase from a CBC podcast yesterday during my barber duty, and felt it's very true in many respects. On a social scale, "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer". At a personal level, "accident of birth".
Don't think anyone here was born with a silver spoon, but if I was born in a small mountain village without book access, I would probably need to work much much harder to gain the knowledge I have, and to be able to go abroad to study, work and live.
Also found an interesting recent article this morning, which shows that the ‘Matthew effect’ in science funding: https://researchonresearch.org/largest-study-of-its-kind-shows-that-the-matthew-effect-in-science-funding-holds-true/
So fairness is a nice wish but doesn't normally exist in the real world. Sigh ... ...
But hopefully the Matthew Effect will do you all some good on this Wedesday.
