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I've always thought of hard work to be one of the prerequisites to success, it's not enough on it's own, and it has to be in the right direction, and it has to

I've always thought of hard work to be one of the prerequisites to success, it's not enough on it's own, and it has to be in the right direction, and it has to have luck and/or the right network to stick. So it's necessary but not enough to go the distance, just like having a running car without fuel won't be enough to get you there.

arvinsim 5y ago
Nope, as the poster said, you can be successful just by luck alone. Hard work not necessary.
- ghufran_syed 5y ago
  Surely the distribution matters too? Even if it is possible to be successful through luck alone, is that necessarily imply that most people are no worse off if they don’t work hard?
  - bluefirebrand 5y ago
    See this seeks to invert the problem, and it's really sneaky. We should not be so focused on "if you stop working hard, your life will get worse" Instead we should focus on "Is it possible to better your position through hard work alone" and often that's not the case. For many people they have to work hard just to maintain a very low position in society. There is no meaningful chance for them to improve their position through hard work alone, so it's clear that hard work is not sufficient to predict success. I don't care how you define success at this point. It's clear to me that working hard just to barely stay afloat is not it.
bluefirebrand 5y ago
I've always found that having the right network or luck matters a lot more than the hard work. The hard work is maybe necessary to capitalize on luck but ultimately some people land high paying jobs where they don't have to work hard and can take afternoons off to golf, purely out of being lucky about who their family is. Other people have to work themselves to the bone to earn a fraction what those people earn. Hard work isn't necessary or sufficient for success.
Ma8ee 5y ago
I’ve a hard time to believe that Donald Trump worked hard a single day of his life, and by most standards he was extraordinarily successful.

arvinsim 5y ago

Nope, as the poster said, you can be successful just by luck alone. Hard work not necessary.

ghufran_syed 5y ago
Surely the distribution matters too? Even if it is possible to be successful through luck alone, is that necessarily imply that most people are no worse off if they don’t work hard?
- bluefirebrand 5y ago
  See this seeks to invert the problem, and it's really sneaky. We should not be so focused on "if you stop working hard, your life will get worse" Instead we should focus on "Is it possible to better your position through hard work alone" and often that's not the case. For many people they have to work hard just to maintain a very low position in society. There is no meaningful chance for them to improve their position through hard work alone, so it's clear that hard work is not sufficient to predict success. I don't care how you define success at this point. It's clear to me that working hard just to barely stay afloat is not it.

bluefirebrand 5y ago

I've always found that having the right network or luck matters a lot more than the hard work. The hard work is maybe necessary to capitalize on luck but ultimately some people land high paying jobs where they don't have to work hard and can take afternoons off to golf, purely out of being lucky about who their family is. Other people have to work themselves to the bone to earn a fraction what those people earn. Hard work isn't necessary or sufficient for success.

Ma8ee 5y ago

I’ve a hard time to believe that Donald Trump worked hard a single day of his life, and by most standards he was extraordinarily successful.