Allan Kardec recognized that the principle of merit governs the dynamics of the Spirit: It depends only on the Spirit to hasten its progress towards perfection, as it achieves it according to its desire and its submission to the will of God. When examining instinctive predispositions as possible obstacles to the exercise of free will, Kardec stated that there is no irresistible drag when one has the will to resist, remembering that wanting is power. According to him, man could always overcome his bad tendencies through his own efforts, and what he lacks is the will.

It is well established, therefore, that the condition of spiritual superiority depends on the Spirit's effort in acquiring intellectual and moral values, in addition, obviously, to its “age”, which results in a greater number of learning experiences.

When examining the incarnated Spirit, under the profound influence of matter, do questions of merit remain, particularly in relation to access to jobs, educational training, and a public career?

According to philosopher Michael Sandel, in some aspects, yes; There's nothing wrong with hiring people based on merit. In fact, it's the right thing to do. If I need a plumber to fix my toilet or a dentist to restore my tooth, I try to find the best person for the job. Maybe not the best person but certainly someone qualified.

Furthermore, selecting based on merit is progress if we consider other forms of selection, such as hereditary aristocracy, selection based on religious and financial criteria, physical beauty, or money given by parents.

The topic, however, deserves deeper analysis. Issues related to merit have been responsible for some concepts that permeate contemporary life, and which have often been used even by illustrious figures.

Barack Obama used the expression “you can do it if you try” 140 times during his two terms in office.

As a reflective exercise, I propose some thoughts.

First

It is not true that everyone who tries hard succeeds. Many people did everything right in life, followed the rules, did their best, gave up many things in favor of a goal, but never managed to achieve it. On the other hand, people who didn't even try that hard reached the peak they expected.

Effort is very important, but it is not everything. Even talent is no guarantee of success. According to a contemporary philosopher, it is doubtful that natural endowments have much to do with income inequalities in capitalist economies. Most income differences are due to the fact that society has invested in developing the talents of some people much more than others, and that it places very unequal amounts of capital at the disposal of each worker. Productivity is primarily linked to work roles, not individuals.

Second

The principle of personal effort does not apply to everyone, in all contexts. There are people who do not have the energy necessary for self-improvement. They do not have it as a result of mental disorders, such as depression, which generates deep apathy; or they are unable to do so due to their own spiritual condition.

Kardec recognized this, as noted in this passage from The Spirits’ Book:

Question: Don't these Spirits want to shorten their suffering?

Answer: They want it, without a doubt, but they lack enough energy to want what can relieve them. How many people are there among you who would rather die of poverty than work? (S.B., question 995-a.)

Third

Meritocracy, by fueling behaviors aimed at success and failure, contributes to a feeling of pride in some, and humiliation and revolt in others. Winners often find themselves invaded by the spirit of meritocratic arrogance: they strongly believe that they deserve what they have achieved, and, consequently, they tend to lose empathy, a fundamental feeling in any society. The others, the “defeated”, are seen as incompetent, obtuse or weak. Therefore, all they have to do is conform to the idea that they are “below” because they are “inferior”.

The “victors” lack the beautiful virtue of gratitude, as they do not recognize that their success was the result of a huge range of conditions, many of them independent of themselves. They are unable to recognize that evolution is collective and supportive; that no one wins alone or falls alone; Everything stems from a huge multiplicity of factors that come together. In many ways, we are indebted to the community that makes our success possible. A basketball star would possibly become rich in North America, but unlikely in Brazil, where this sport is little valued. Would Anita and Neymar be what they are living in a Muslim theocracy?

We read in Kardec: Any man who is proud enough to consider himself superior, in virtues and merits, to his incarnated brothers, is foolish and guilty.

Fourth

The concept of merit is largely mistaken because it ignores the existence of forces that are beyond our control, are independent of our effort and will. When examining the basis of human actions, Kardec admits that our choices, actions, and decisions are under three orders of influence, which are largely independent of us: the organism, the environment in which the individual is located and the supervening circumstances.

a) Intelligence: people have different intelligences. Obviously, smarter people tend to do better in various situations in life. Intelligence has a heritability of 50%, that is, genetics explains 50% of the variation in intelligence, and is therefore largely innate. This does not depend on personal effort; It is the result of genes inherited from parents.

Someone will say that it is the reincarnating Spirit that selects the genes that will form your body. Thus, indirectly, the Spirit's intelligence (the fruit of its efforts in previous existences) will define man's intelligence. In other words: we deserve our talent! This is only partially correct, as the incarnated Spirit is under strong influence from matter. According to Kardec, intelligence depends on the state of the body you acquire, remembering that with the change of bodies, certain intellectual faculties can be lost.

To illustrate, we evoke a biological phenomenon called linkage, or united genes. Certain genes, being very close in a specific region of the chromosome, will be selected together, as a true package. When gametes (sperm and egg) are formed, these genes always remain close together and cannot be separated. This is called linkage, that is, genes joined together. Thus, by “selecting” certain genes necessary for its new incarnational experience, the Spirit can “load” other genes, which were not necessarily “chosen”, but which come together in the package.

Let's consider a hypothetical example: a certain Spirit wants (or needs) to have experiences in the sphere of music, as a pianist. When tuning into the paternal and maternal gamete, it will do so with those that contain genes linked to the musical physiology of the brain. This way, the construction and functioning of a brain with circuits more suited to playing music will be assured. If, by hypothesis, there are genes related to, for example, baldness next to these genes, they will come together. He must be a bald pianist. The baldness genes, in our example, were not selected by the reincarnated person, but came, via linkage, in the package.

b) Social influences: not everyone is born into families with the same financial resources, with the same moral values, giving the same importance to issues such as education, or the need to prepare for life. Individuals during childhood and adolescence are subjected to different stimuli, more or less nutritious foods, access to books and technological teaching resources, very different medical and dental care, greater or lesser self-esteem due to the family environment, parental affection, prejudices, better schools, bullying for being too fat or too thin, too short or too tall, black, gay or transsexual, etc. All of this, obviously, will influence that person's performance in their adult life.

According to Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate in Economics, 90% of boys born into poor homes die poor, no matter how capable they are; over 90% of boys born into rich homes die rich, no matter how stupid they are.

There is a strong correlation, for example, between the level of educational performance and occupational success in modern society. The better grades an individual gets in school, the better paid their job will probably be when they leave.

(Continues in the next issue)