The Mattew effect takes its name from the Parable of the Talents in the biblical Gospel of Matthew. It shows the tendency for economic advantage to accumulate in the hands of a few. The parable starts as follows:
The Parable of the Bags of Gold
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”
The Rules
You play the role of the master. Money accumulates as you click the increment button. You can choose to redistribute one servant’s gold to the highest earning servant at any time. Redistributing a servant’s gold takes away that servant’s future gold-making privileges. Some servants make more money than others, each one has a multiplier. As the master, you want to make the most gold for your family. The widget below is a small simulation of the parable. Each button press will advance time by 1 and each servant will make money 100x their money making multiplier.
The Lesson
“for to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
The parable concludes with an unusually harsh lesson, that the winner takes all sometimes, and skill is not equally distributed. This effect is observed in numerous fields. For example, since so few people check the second page of google search results, the first page is the most highly valued. The whole SEO industry is dedicated to keeping a business to the first page. Good luck out there!
Resources
This demo was made with Lit
Read more: about the Matthew effect