5 ms·

Why do so many, like many immigrants, start from nothing and end up very successful if it was just a dice roll? I mean, there's always that factor but it's cert

Why do so many, like many immigrants, start from nothing and end up very successful if it was just a dice roll? I mean, there's always that factor but it's certainly not everything.

jakelazaroff 7y ago
This seems like selection bias. I would bet that far more people end up successful because they started out successful.
- Broken_Hippo 7y ago
  This. There are a lot of immigrants: So many simply aren't rich and never will be, really. I mean, how many migrant farm workers are there in the world? How many work in the fishing industry? How many in restaurant kitchens? Am I supposed to believe they will all be successful? Probably not. I'm guessing that the immigrants started off better than others.
- enaaem 7y ago
  We have to define what success is. Not all become millionaires, but most have build a good life for themselves in the upper middle class.
  - stouset 7y ago
    Data or it didn’t happen. “Most” and “upper middle class” tells me you’re probably making this up whole cloth. “Most” Americans don’t make it to the upper middle class.
puzzledobserver 7y ago
You are right that most immigrant rags-to-riches stories that immediately come to mind involve them getting off the boat with a handful of dollars to their name. But they seem to forget the value of the college degree that they carry and the lifetime of high-quality education that preceded their arrival in the US. The immigrants you speak of might not be as poor as you make them out to be. I do not know if many American families can get access to the same resources for early education if they are not already from families that are economically affluent.
einpoklum 7y ago
They don't. Very few people start from nothing and end up "very successful" (by which I take it you mean being rich and influential). You're just forgetting to divide their number by the number of people who start from nothing overall, which is Billions.
toast0 7y ago
Was able to emigrate is a pretty strong filter in a lot of cases. Was able to immigrate is an even stronger filter. Just gathering the resources to leave is one thing, gathering the resources to be allowed in at the destination can be even harder. Most of the immigrants I know spent a lot of time or money or both either personally or by their parents to get here. At least recebtly even the ones who left everything behind to start here with nothing at least had some talent at getting things done in beuracracy which is pretty useful.

Why do so many, like many immigrants, start from nothing and end up very successful if it was just a dice roll? I mean, there's always that factor but it's certainly not everything.

jakelazaroff 7y ago

This seems like selection bias. I would bet that far more people end up successful because they started out successful.

Broken_Hippo 7y ago
This. There are a lot of immigrants: So many simply aren't rich and never will be, really. I mean, how many migrant farm workers are there in the world? How many work in the fishing industry? How many in restaurant kitchens? Am I supposed to believe they will all be successful? Probably not. I'm guessing that the immigrants started off better than others.
enaaem 7y ago
We have to define what success is. Not all become millionaires, but most have build a good life for themselves in the upper middle class.
- stouset 7y ago
  Data or it didn’t happen. “Most” and “upper middle class” tells me you’re probably making this up whole cloth. “Most” Americans don’t make it to the upper middle class.

puzzledobserver 7y ago

You are right that most immigrant rags-to-riches stories that immediately come to mind involve them getting off the boat with a handful of dollars to their name. But they seem to forget the value of the college degree that they carry and the lifetime of high-quality education that preceded their arrival in the US. The immigrants you speak of might not be as poor as you make them out to be. I do not know if many American families can get access to the same resources for early education if they are not already from families that are economically affluent.

einpoklum 7y ago

They don't. Very few people start from nothing and end up "very successful" (by which I take it you mean being rich and influential). You're just forgetting to divide their number by the number of people who start from nothing overall, which is Billions.

toast0 7y ago

Was able to emigrate is a pretty strong filter in a lot of cases. Was able to immigrate is an even stronger filter. Just gathering the resources to leave is one thing, gathering the resources to be allowed in at the destination can be even harder. Most of the immigrants I know spent a lot of time or money or both either personally or by their parents to get here. At least recebtly even the ones who left everything behind to start here with nothing at least had some talent at getting things done in beuracracy which is pretty useful.