This article conflates cognitive ability with merit in attempting to discredit all the "meritocracy bad" chatter by diving deep into how cognitive ability correlates with education and work "success".<p>Cognitive ability is just that: an ability. Having merit involves (or should involve: dictionary definitions for "merit" are a bit divergent here) achieving stuff, and to get there, you also need to actually put your ability to use. You know, actually do stuff instead of just being smart.