Sometimes, the utterance of a certain word triggers a set of thought processes. For instance, meteorologists in Arkansas excitedly explained our recent record-setting cold temps as resulting from a decrease in temperature gradients between the Earth's poles and its latitudes.
A weatherman using the word "gradient" seemed odd to me. I am familiar with the word, it's quite common in scientific vocabulary. A gradient is a decrease or increase in the magnitude of some property observed while passing from one point to another. An inclined road is a gradient, or has a certain grade; the elevation decreases or increases as one traverses the path. We witness a gradient of brightness in sunrises and sunsets as dark gives way to light and vice-versa. Anyone who has waded into a lake can feel the temperature gradient change as the depth increases.
A diminished gradient of atmospheric temperature between the North Pole and the lower United States allowed the cold polar air to escape its usual boundaries and run roughshod over Texas and other states not accustomed to such uncivil temperatures. Evidently, the polar areas of our planet are getting warmer.
Normally, the large difference in temperature between our area and the poles keeps the bitter cold polar winds confined and away from our region. "Global warming" is not just about hotter than usual summers. Warmer polar temps now affect our winters, not in resulting in milder conditions, as would seem obvious, but in causing winter weather to be more, well, wintery. Expect more of the same in winters to come. Better buy that snowblower now, Texans.
We take gradients for granted. Life exists because we have gradients. Our metabolic processes rely on the gradients of sodium, potassium and calcium passing from high concentrations to low and back again. When the gradients are no more, we run out of energy and die.
Human society is chock full of gradients. The disparity in wealth is a classic example. "Trickle-down economics" assumed the wealth of the rich would flow down to the less wealthy, if only their taxes were lower. History refutes that assumption. The gradient simply became steeper due to the rich not distributing their extra gains.
Education is a gradient. At one time in our history, the higher gradient of education was those persons with less than a high school degree. Now that degree is much more common, and we now stress the importance of college degrees. The gradient moves toward having more education. Perhaps in the future, having a college degree will be the norm. There is a move to make higher education more accessible and less costly so that everyone will have a college degree. We think of this as a good thing.
But, in reality, how does that affect the gradient of differences when it comes to potential employment? Not long ago, those with college degrees were favored for better jobs over those without degrees. But what happens when everyone has a degree? All things being equal, an employer simply looks further up the sloped educational gradient and chooses someone with a master's or doctoral degree. Extend the process further such that everyone has a doctorate degree. The gradient is gone as far as differences in educational experience, and some other criteria are needed to decide who gets the job.
Social gradients have always existed as individuals strive to set themselves apart from others. The gradient is formed for various reasons. Some can't achieve more due to circumstances beyond their control. Others are simply satisfied with a certain level of wealth or education and have no need for more. Some dictatorial countries force their people into whatever job is needed for the overseer's needs.
In a free country, we are driven by our own needs. "You can be whatever you want to be" is the dictum uttered by many parents. But if we are all medical doctors, who then repairs our cars? Who cooks the food and serves it to us in restaurants? Who runs the restaurant or builds the restaurant? The gradient here becomes important. Life has become too complex for everyone to know how to do everything.
Before we run headlong into spending billions on social engineering to equalize everyone's outcomes, should we not consider the advantage of diversity? Not everyone wants to be a doctor. Not everyone needs an MBA degree, or a bachelor's degree for that matter. I am all for education but let that education be based not on simply the accumulation of facts and hypotheses. Let it be more about giving people the tools to let them be happy in their life's work. I know many people who are happy making less than the 1% or even the top 40%, and a few uber-rich people who are miserable.
America is all about equality. Equal rights, equal opportunity, equal treatment by the law. These values should not be subject to gradients. We can be equal while still being different. Equal opportunity is no guarantee of equal outcomes, however. In fact, the guarantees are few. Best to choose a road with a grade you can live with.
-- Devin Houston is the president/CEO of Houston Enzymes. Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.