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Comment by runbathtime | Hacker News Reader

When the SAT / ACT are thrown out and companies are no longer hiring based on merit, but other characteristics, is it any wonder that people would think that hard work doesn't matter?

These people are one step away from thinking about how to game the system and work smarter/ differently than just working hard.

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> game the system

> SAT / ACT

It's pretty well established that the SAT / ACT are very straightforward to game. The existing system is gamed. It's not gamed towards intelligence or ingenuity, it's gamed towards hard work, which is mostly a proxy for time.

any better alternative?

If it can be gamed through hard work then why doesn't everyone who is willing to put it hard work get great scores?

Yes it does measure ability. Maybe hard work or practice helps some, I'm not excluding that.

> why doesn't everyone who is willing

Not everyone can afford to take it multiple times, do test prep courses, etc.

A good read: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2019/12/11/lawsuit-...

It doesn't make much of a difference. And not everyone can afford good organic food or private school. This isn't a good argument.

But the SAT/ACT aren't thrown out. They are still widely used. And this phenomena is pretty sweeping and goes beyond jobs that require college (and therefor people who took or give a hoot about the ACT/SAT). The world does not turn on elite cultural panic.

> The world does not turn on elite cultural panic.

Hear hear! I feel it should be said as a bookend: elite media discourse _does_ turn on elite cultural panic.

I got very high SAT scores, didn't work very hard at all, and rarely showed up to school. I sped through the last part to go do drugs with two of my friends.

I understand the moralism, but high SAT scores aren't work.

Ability counts, hard work isn't the end goal. The SAT is supposed to measure ability, because grades are a better measurement of hard work. The SAT is valued more highly than grades.

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