5 ms·

There is nothing privileged about being passionate in things that may earn you good money. Luck? Sure Privilege? Definitely not

nsv 5y ago
What is the difference between luck and privilege?
- bitcharmer 5y ago
  I'm hoping your question isn't serious but just in case you don't know the difference between the two: Luck - success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions. Privilege - a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group. Hope this is helpful
  - tomp 5y ago
    Well, “interest in programming” sounds to be like a special advantage in the current world; why do you think it’s not a privilege? It might even be genetic! (Not to mention that you also need the privilege of being born relatively smart.)
    - bitcharmer 5y ago
      Well if you frame it like that everything and anything can be called privilege. Doesn't make much sense to me.
      - tomp 5y ago
        I think of “privilege” as something that persists (e.g. IQ) vs “luck” as something that happens once (e.g. winning the lottery).
  - schwartzworld 5y ago
    Privilege: being lucky enough to be born/raised in the right circumstances
    - bitcharmer 5y ago
      Still two different things. I come from a poor family. Nothing was handed to me on a silver platter. My career is a function of passion, hard work and luck. Not privilege. It makes my blod boil whenever I hear this privilege nonsense.
      - schwartzworld 5y ago
        The problem with this conversation is that people feel attacked by the term, like it undermines the hard work they've done or their intelligence. It doesn't necessarily mean everything was handed to you on a silver platter. It's ok to acknowledge the ways in which you were dealt a good hand (if, in fact, you were).
        bitcharmer 5y ago
        Yes, saying that people like me achieved success due to privilege is misleading and hateful because it dismisses our hard work and tons of sacrifice to get where we are now. But sure, call it a privilege. Thanks to discourse like this the word already lost its meaning. The only thing that I got dealt a good hand is that by accident my passion and hobby can bring me a tonne of money. Where is my privilege here? Sadly as many people here you're confusing luck and privilege. No point in carrying on with the exchange if you're insisting on calling everything privilege. Thanks for the discussion.
        schwartzworld 5y ago
        I'm a self-taught programmer and I can think of several ways that my hard work was enabled by my privilege. And that's the key for me, is that you're focusing on the "here's what you were given" aspect of privilege and not the "here's what you were denied" aspect. Cheap computers abound now, but it wasn't long ago that having a personal computer at all implied a minimum income level. I can't speak for you, but I went to a school with a computer lab and had a computer at home from a young age. Learning programming was hard, but it would have been a lot harder without those things. That's privilege. I was an advanced reader because my parents had time to teach me and filled our house with books. That's privilege. I had hobbies in my teen years instead of having to work to help support my family (privilege). There are lots of people who could be brilliant programmers or engineers had they had the same opportunities as me. Instead of resenting the term, I acknowledge and am grateful for whatever advantages I was provided, because without them getting to the same place would have required exponentially more work, or maybe even been impossible.

nsv 5y ago

What is the difference between luck and privilege?

bitcharmer 5y ago
I'm hoping your question isn't serious but just in case you don't know the difference between the two: Luck - success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions. Privilege - a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group. Hope this is helpful
- tomp 5y ago
  Well, “interest in programming” sounds to be like a special advantage in the current world; why do you think it’s not a privilege? It might even be genetic! (Not to mention that you also need the privilege of being born relatively smart.)
  - bitcharmer 5y ago
    Well if you frame it like that everything and anything can be called privilege. Doesn't make much sense to me.
    - tomp 5y ago
      I think of “privilege” as something that persists (e.g. IQ) vs “luck” as something that happens once (e.g. winning the lottery).
- schwartzworld 5y ago
  Privilege: being lucky enough to be born/raised in the right circumstances
  - bitcharmer 5y ago
    Still two different things. I come from a poor family. Nothing was handed to me on a silver platter. My career is a function of passion, hard work and luck. Not privilege. It makes my blod boil whenever I hear this privilege nonsense.
    - schwartzworld 5y ago
      The problem with this conversation is that people feel attacked by the term, like it undermines the hard work they've done or their intelligence. It doesn't necessarily mean everything was handed to you on a silver platter. It's ok to acknowledge the ways in which you were dealt a good hand (if, in fact, you were).
      - bitcharmer 5y ago
        Yes, saying that people like me achieved success due to privilege is misleading and hateful because it dismisses our hard work and tons of sacrifice to get where we are now. But sure, call it a privilege. Thanks to discourse like this the word already lost its meaning. The only thing that I got dealt a good hand is that by accident my passion and hobby can bring me a tonne of money. Where is my privilege here? Sadly as many people here you're confusing luck and privilege. No point in carrying on with the exchange if you're insisting on calling everything privilege. Thanks for the discussion.
        schwartzworld 5y ago
        I'm a self-taught programmer and I can think of several ways that my hard work was enabled by my privilege. And that's the key for me, is that you're focusing on the "here's what you were given" aspect of privilege and not the "here's what you were denied" aspect. Cheap computers abound now, but it wasn't long ago that having a personal computer at all implied a minimum income level. I can't speak for you, but I went to a school with a computer lab and had a computer at home from a young age. Learning programming was hard, but it would have been a lot harder without those things. That's privilege. I was an advanced reader because my parents had time to teach me and filled our house with books. That's privilege. I had hobbies in my teen years instead of having to work to help support my family (privilege). There are lots of people who could be brilliant programmers or engineers had they had the same opportunities as me. Instead of resenting the term, I acknowledge and am grateful for whatever advantages I was provided, because without them getting to the same place would have required exponentially more work, or maybe even been impossible.