Allocation Quote by Eliezer Yudkowsky
“Have I ever remarked on how completely ridiculous it is to ask high school students to decide what they want to do with the rest of their lives and give them nearly no support in doing so? Support like, say, spending a day apiece watching twenty different jobs and then another week at their top three choices, with salary charts and projections and probabilities of graduating that subject given their test scores? The more so considering this is a central allocation question for the entire economy?”
About This Quote
Source Essay: Rationalist Community, 2015
Students are asked to plan lifelong careers without adequate exposure or data, which is unrealistic and unfair.
In simple terms: Students need real job experience and info to choose careers.
Key Takeaway
Provide structured career exploration programs.
Themes
education
career planning
economics
equity
Mood
frustrated
concerned
Type
critical
analytical
When to use this quote
- high school counseling
- career fairs
- internship programs
- data-driven guidance
Key Concepts
human capital
decision theory
labor market
policy design
Questions to Reflect On
- How can schools realistically offer such extensive exposure?
- What data would best inform student choices?
A Different Perspective
Limited resources and institutional inertia may hinder implementation.
![“I think [testing] has had a profoundly problematic impact on student learning. It must seem to students that their worth as individuals is equivalent to their test score. The stress the high stakes culture has on teachers is also highly negative and must surely impact students in a negative way…” quote by Carol Ann Tomlinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/94d/carol-ann-tomlinson-15427_culture_i-think-testing-has-had-a-profoundly-pro_392424.jpg)
