&gt; When you choose the clearly better developer over the other, you&#x27;re often choosing the one who had better resources growing up, not just natural ability.<p>Ahh, but <i>natural ability</i> is just as much of a <i>privilege</i> as having a fortunate upbringing! Both are essentially unchosen, born-with things; you can&#x27;t choose your inborn talents, and you can&#x27;t choose your parent&#x27;s resources.<p>Really, what you&#x27;re scoffing at is <i>learned skill</i> and saying that born-with skill is better, for whatever reason.<p>But meritocracy[1] just means &quot;only results matter&quot;. It doesn&#x27;t matter if you worked your ass off for 30 years in acquiring skills that bring <i>results</i>, against all odds (whether genetic or externally imposed). Or if you were just <i>born with it</i> and hardly had to put in any effort.<p>[1] Whether that is a reality or not; doesn&#x27;t matter for the sake of the argument.