> you'll only find out for sure if you'll lose when you try. if you don't try, you definitely lose.

If you're going to follow that philosophy, you're better off buying a lottery ticket. They're a lot cheaper.

> should we select movie stars, athletes, and professors at birth? via lottery?

I'll bite that bullet. Partial allocation by lottery would be a lot less cruel and wasteful than the current system of full allocation by sacrifice.