The Varieties of Elitism Project -------------------------------- Before reading this project, check for [post-publication peer-review on PubPeer][1], just in case the materials here have become obsolete. You can also leave anonymous feedback there if you have any concerns about this project. You can cite this project as follows: > Santos-Lang, C., & Team, V. of E. (2019, January 20). Varieties of > Elitism. Retrieved from osf.io/2h63k To become a participant in this project, fill [this form][2] and send a signed copy to vofelitism@googlegroups.com. Even if you don’t sign the form, [joining that Google Group][3] will allow you to follow this project (including notifications). This project advances the kind of mathematics Isaac Asimov anticipated in his Foundation series: mathematics for social engineering that can accelerate the evolution of a target society. “Elitism” is a politically-charged and emotionally-charged term. This research aims to give objective meaning to it, beginning a rigorous process of listing and comparing potential varieties of elitism. It started with a [spreadsheet][4] by Chris Santos-Lang for just two random artificial populations. To check Chris’ surprisingly [profound results][5], Bennette Harris developed [PERL scripts][6] that average the calculations across hundreds of random artificial populations. The new [results][7] ([PDF][8]) were basically the same (but, of course, more precise with the larger simulation). The essential conclusion of this analysis is that elitism is a profoundly mathematical topic, so it would be reckless to wield the term without bothering to do the math. On the practical side, we find that the first company to perfect and use the best variety of elitism would outperform its competitors by at least 700%. Furthermore, a society that blocked such elitism would sacrifice a potential doubling of progress even for its average least-privileged members. Think of it like doubling the average lifespan, and please check the math for yourself. The files listed above were archived on 1/20/2019 in a registration: > Santos-Lang, C., & Team, V. of E. (2019, January 20). Varieties of > Elitism. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/P4DBY Much more can be done with these simulations. We are especially looking for help converting the PERL to Python. [CC0 1.0 Universal][9]: To the extent possible under law, the author of this document has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work. [1]: https://pubpeer.com/publications/BAE4D582BF0CF2E93AA0F43667FD84 [2]: https://osf.io/4x92h/ [3]: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/vofelitism [4]: https://osf.io/jqp5d/ [5]: https://osf.io/xe69u/ [6]: https://github.com/bennetteharris/GRINSim [7]: https://osf.io/ex5zb/ [8]: https://osf.io/pqdfr/ [9]: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/