Alan J. Friedman, Ph.D. You might imagine that top figures in sports and in science would have little in common. But the two professions do share two exceptional traits. Sports and science are both strict meritocracies . Sports and science are two endeavors where it is hard to fake success.
Nobody can achieve recognition for long solely because of family connections, wealth or charm.
If you can run a mile consistently under four minutes, you will be a famous runner. If you can find patterns and predict behavior in nature where others can not, you will be a successful scientist. Without demonstrable abilities like these, you just can't excel in either field. Sustained success in these two fields is not based on subjective judgments or popularity but on measurable, objective performance. The individuals at the top, of either sports or science, may or may not be nice people, but they are people who can indisputably deliver the goods.