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1. Didn't see that coming. (had information, chose to ignore, possibly by way of narcissism or hubris) 2. Couldn't help themselves. (lack of impulse control, c

1. Didn't see that coming. (had information, chose to ignore, possibly by way of narcissism or hubris) 2. Couldn't help themselves. (lack of impulse control, compulsive behavior) 3. Space cadets. (lack of full circumstantial awareness) The reverse of all of these being, of course, overly cautious, prudent behavior. A coward. The brave and the stupid. Maybe some of us are just lucky.

mirimir 11y ago
Well said! Cowards are just jealous ;)
artifaxx 11y ago
It seems that striking a balance between these traits is best. You have to do things and learn from your mistakes to keep from doing stupid stuff. But you also don't want to go so far that you look like a total idiot.
RobertoG 11y ago
In my humble and cautious opinion, somebody prudent and cautious is not a coward. That's the reason because we have different words. Prudent is to know that your chances are not good and then refrain yourself despise the pressure you could feel to act. To be brave is to be scared but to realize that is the moment to act and do it. To be coward is the same but not acting. You have to be scared to be brave. To be stupid is not to be scared when you should be. Knowing how to balance all that would be being wise.
StavrosK 11y ago
First of all, the opposite of "coward" isn't "brave", it's "foolhardy". Also, I don't understand what use these two concepts have. Risks are a continuum, and rewards are a continuum. Multiply the two together, and you get ROI. Everyone has a minimum ROI before they do something (you wouldn't jump in front of a train to retrieve a penny), it's just that some people have a higher threshold than others. When is the threshold "too high" and "too low", giving us cowards and foolhardy people, respectively? It's all subjective, and a matter of preference. Denigrating people because they don't have the same preference as you is a dick move.
agarden 11y ago
One can be cautious without being overly cautious. And one can prudently take risks. An example of stupid behavior might be betting $10,000 that you will win the office March Madness pool, because you personally know the coach of Duke and are just convinced that he is a winner that will go all the way. That's stupid. But if you are Warren Buffet and bet $1 billion (with a 'b') that no one at all will correctly call every game in this years NCAA basketball tournament[0], that's not stupid, that's informed and prudent risk-taking. [0] http://time.com/34358/no-one-won-warren-buffetts-1-billion-bracket-challenge/ http://time.com/34358/no-one-won-warren-buffetts-1-billion-b...

mirimir 11y ago

Well said! Cowards are just jealous ;)

artifaxx 11y ago

It seems that striking a balance between these traits is best. You have to do things and learn from your mistakes to keep from doing stupid stuff. But you also don't want to go so far that you look like a total idiot.

RobertoG 11y ago

In my humble and cautious opinion, somebody prudent and cautious is not a coward. That's the reason because we have different words. Prudent is to know that your chances are not good and then refrain yourself despise the pressure you could feel to act. To be brave is to be scared but to realize that is the moment to act and do it. To be coward is the same but not acting. You have to be scared to be brave. To be stupid is not to be scared when you should be. Knowing how to balance all that would be being wise.

StavrosK 11y ago

First of all, the opposite of "coward" isn't "brave", it's "foolhardy". Also, I don't understand what use these two concepts have. Risks are a continuum, and rewards are a continuum. Multiply the two together, and you get ROI. Everyone has a minimum ROI before they do something (you wouldn't jump in front of a train to retrieve a penny), it's just that some people have a higher threshold than others. When is the threshold "too high" and "too low", giving us cowards and foolhardy people, respectively? It's all subjective, and a matter of preference. Denigrating people because they don't have the same preference as you is a dick move.

agarden 11y ago

One can be cautious without being overly cautious. And one can prudently take risks. An example of stupid behavior might be betting $10,000 that you will win the office March Madness pool, because you personally know the coach of Duke and are just convinced that he is a winner that will go all the way. That's stupid. But if you are Warren Buffet and bet $1 billion (with a 'b') that no one at all will correctly call every game in this years NCAA basketball tournament[0], that's not stupid, that's informed and prudent risk-taking. [0] http://time.com/34358/no-one-won-warren-buffetts-1-billion-bracket-challenge/ http://time.com/34358/no-one-won-warren-buffetts-1-billion-b...