Jimmy Wales To Silicon Valley: Grow Up And Get Over Your Age Bias

readwrite.com

21 points·talhof8··4 comments

This bias toward youth often translates into an ageism that is often understood but not overtly spoken. Except by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who noted at a Y Combinator event: "I want to stress the importance of being young and technical. Young people are just smarter. Why are most chess masters under 30?"

It's very simple, Mark. It's because people over 30 realize there are bigger and more important things in life than playing chess.

TL;DR can we get something like a controlled sample and a regression analysis, please? You know, something besides "some of the most successful companies ... are also some of the youngest", "for every Zuckerberg there are dozens of..."

Love this article. Shows the disconnect of SV and the acceptance of age discrimination.

"According to data compiled by Wadhwa, the average age of a successful entrepreneur in high-growth industries such as computers, health care, and aerospace is 40. Twice as many successful entrepreneurs are over 50 as under 25. A whopping 75% have more than six years of industry experience and 50% have more than 10 years when they create their startup. "

Yeah but the data also says that most chess masters are under 30. And chess is more strongly correlated with success than success.

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