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Comment by papito | Hacker News Reader

Luck had a lot to do with it. Just like Bill Gates was stuffed into an ultra-privileged boarding school that happened to have a computer, exposing him to an opportunity, Alexey Pajitnov was lucky enough to be born in Moscow, where he went to the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Tetris (I believe) was developed on the Academy's computers. Communism had nothing to do with it - but you had to win the Birth Lottery even in a bigger way.

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Slight correction. Soviet Academy of Sciences is not an educational institution, nor it is limited to those who were born in Moscow.

A lot of university students in Moscow, Kyiv, St. Petersburg or any bigger Soviet city weren't actually born there. If you were from another city the university will give you dorm room if you pass the entry exams.

In case of Pajitnov luck is more about getting a job at Academy of Sciences, but probably it has something to do with his talents.

Fair point, but let's not forget the USSR was not a very mobile society. You didn't just "move" from your government-allocated apartment, if you even had one. Where you were born greatly contributed to your trajectory, especially if it was Moscow.

Education-wise, YES, the USSR was a meritocracy, way more so than the United States. My father was born in a God-forsaken Ukrainian village, and he studied in then Leningrad.

After you graduate, of course, it's different. It requires significant maneuvering in the political system and ample butt-licking to get anywhere serious.

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