5 ms·

What about just pure chance? To be born in to the right family, in the right country, to be in the correct field, to have the right idea at the right time. Perh

What about just pure chance? To be born in to the right family, in the right country, to be in the correct field, to have the right idea at the right time. Perhaps the correct path is just luck. We are all rolling the dice here. Just be yourself and do what you find interesting. If it pays off great, if it doesn't that is okay too.

Sebb767 6y ago
Chance/Luck is surely involved, but I'd argue that you can make it far easier for luck to find you. If you get a degree in an upcoming field or start a company you're not guaranteed anything, but your chances are a lot better than if you're just slacking off. Sure, at the end it's a dice role, but you can get a better dice ;)
- matthewmacleod 6y ago
  If you get a degree in an upcoming field or start a company you're not guaranteed anything, but your chances are a lot better than if you're just slacking off. But your chances of being able to do that in the first place are massively dependent on your luck. It's a lot harder to get a degree or start a company if your family is struggling to afford essentials, or you're caring for a sick relative.
  - boredumb 6y ago
    Just wait until you hear the chances these people had to luck out on in order to become an embryo.
    - troughway 6y ago
      Truly an underrated predictor.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
esperent 6y ago
> if it doesn't that is okay too. So for people who find themselves going into dept slavery, unable to feed themselves and their children well, unable to afford healthcare, and so on, you're saying it's all good, just a bad roll of the dice, nothing to worry about? Seems to me more like the system is fundamentally broken if pure chance is all that seperates a millionaire and the destitute and downtrodden.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- pengstrom 6y ago
  Yes, hence the widespread criticism of capitalism.
  - adwn 6y ago
    > Yes, hence the widespread criticism of capitalism. Social classes and social immobility are millenia-old phenomena and are completely independent of capitalism.
  - sunshinerag 6y ago
    capitalism? you mean socialism?
- engineer_22 6y ago
  -> Seems to me more like the system is fundamentally broken... What assumption have you made about the system's purposes and functions? This is an important question and one we are currently wrestling with as a society. It's one of the BIG QUESTIONS and hard to answer. Plato's Republic might be a good starting place.
- ivanhoe 6y ago
  I think OP meant that it's OK to be middle class mediocre, nothing especially bad or shameful about it. Being poor is the other extreme of the system - just like good luck and smart decisions can make you rich, bad luck and stupid moves can make you poor. I don't think that anyone argued that society shouldn't reduce the risks and provide a safety net for poor people. Also IMHO for social stability it's important that system slowdowns both of these tendencies, not let people get extremely poor, but also not extremely rich over the night.
chasd00 6y ago
well the key is opening the door when opportunity knocks. You can certainly be more "lucky" by developing the decision making capability to identify and pounce on an opportunity when it presents itself.

Sebb767 6y ago

Chance/Luck is surely involved, but I'd argue that you can make it far easier for luck to find you. If you get a degree in an upcoming field or start a company you're not guaranteed anything, but your chances are a lot better than if you're just slacking off. Sure, at the end it's a dice role, but you can get a better dice ;)

matthewmacleod 6y ago
If you get a degree in an upcoming field or start a company you're not guaranteed anything, but your chances are a lot better than if you're just slacking off. But your chances of being able to do that in the first place are massively dependent on your luck. It's a lot harder to get a degree or start a company if your family is struggling to afford essentials, or you're caring for a sick relative.
- boredumb 6y ago
  Just wait until you hear the chances these people had to luck out on in order to become an embryo.
  - troughway 6y ago
    Truly an underrated predictor.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

esperent 6y ago

> if it doesn't that is okay too. So for people who find themselves going into dept slavery, unable to feed themselves and their children well, unable to afford healthcare, and so on, you're saying it's all good, just a bad roll of the dice, nothing to worry about? Seems to me more like the system is fundamentally broken if pure chance is all that seperates a millionaire and the destitute and downtrodden.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
pengstrom 6y ago
Yes, hence the widespread criticism of capitalism.
- adwn 6y ago
  > Yes, hence the widespread criticism of capitalism. Social classes and social immobility are millenia-old phenomena and are completely independent of capitalism.
- sunshinerag 6y ago
  capitalism? you mean socialism?
engineer_22 6y ago
-> Seems to me more like the system is fundamentally broken... What assumption have you made about the system's purposes and functions? This is an important question and one we are currently wrestling with as a society. It's one of the BIG QUESTIONS and hard to answer. Plato's Republic might be a good starting place.
ivanhoe 6y ago
I think OP meant that it's OK to be middle class mediocre, nothing especially bad or shameful about it. Being poor is the other extreme of the system - just like good luck and smart decisions can make you rich, bad luck and stupid moves can make you poor. I don't think that anyone argued that society shouldn't reduce the risks and provide a safety net for poor people. Also IMHO for social stability it's important that system slowdowns both of these tendencies, not let people get extremely poor, but also not extremely rich over the night.

chasd00 6y ago

well the key is opening the door when opportunity knocks. You can certainly be more "lucky" by developing the decision making capability to identify and pounce on an opportunity when it presents itself.