This story was commissioned by the New York Times as part of a series of "future editorials"--opinion pieces speculating on how some event or social trend is going to develop in the form of a newspaper opinion piece. Ted Chiang's version, like pretty much everything else he does, is fully brilliant. His piece speculates on a social intervention where some disadvantaged children are given a genetic enhancement that is popular with wealthy parents--one that boosts the IQ. The kids generally finished a college education, but are still not any better off. He gives various reasons for this that are drawn from today's knowledge, and draws reasonable conclusions. He could do this for a living, except that being a sysadmin has to be more fun.
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