4 ms·

Quantity of luck has a bigger role to achieve success.

by Aisen8010 4y ago

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
Kelm 4y ago
Fair, unfortunately this is not something one can substantially improve upon ;)
- caseysoftware 4y ago
  But you can. The catch phrase for this is "increasing your luck surface area" There are all kinds of possibilities and opportunities in front of us every day. We're "lucky" when we can a) identify them and b) take advantage of them. There are lots of strategies for this ranging from the simple (learn more) to the complex (networking, the people kind) and everything can give you additional perspective, opportunities, etc, etc to make you "lucky." As you're successful with a few, you can build momentum, reputation, etc to grow your "luck"
photochemsyn 4y ago
I just finished reading this biography of the physicist Enrico Fermi, "The Pope of Physics" and while he was obviously very talented from a young age, there were a lot of points in his career from Italy to the United States where luck played a critical role. He was lucky that he was taken under the wing of a senior academic early on, well before he became famous or did any really significant work. That figure ensured that he and several other young physicists got academic appointments (when others tried equally hard to block those appointments, and put their favored proteges in those slots). He was also lucky that he was able to escape fascist Italy with his Jewish wife, and emigrate to the United States. However, it also kind of backs up the thesis here, as Fermi apparently worked very hard to lose his Italian accent once in America, as a means of more effectively communicating with the locals. He then became the leader of the Chicago reactor project, then an all-around consultant for the Los Alamos Manhattan Project.
dasil003 4y ago
This is such an impotent and sour-grapes refrain that someone always has to blurt out in any thread about “success”. Of course luck plays a huge role in success just as it does for all asymmetric outcomes in a chaotic environment. Just ask any formerly living thing over the last billion years about its fortunes. Shit happens, you can’t control it. However focusing on what you can’t control is to nullify your competitive advantage as a human: your brain. There’s a reason they say “luck favors the prepared mind”. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and play the hand you were dealt.
- jjj123 4y ago
  But we can control societal factors that cause success to be inequitably distributed. Through worker organization, redistribution of wealth, etc. It’s just that individuals that have benefited from this false meritocracy have a vested interest in the rest of us “hustling” at the individual level instead of banding together to change the system for everyone.
  - robertlagrant 4y ago
    "Luck playing a part" is not the same as a false meritocracy.
    - DarylZero 4y ago
      It wasn't claimed to be.
- theonemind 4y ago
  I don't think it follows that he feels sorry for himself. This bias in human thought could use correcting for several reasons. It runs a bit like the "just world" fallacy. On one side, you have things like the Republican party, where millions vote against their own interests on the basis of a delusion of control. Then you have the general lack of social safety nets in America, because of the just-world fallacy that people get what they deserve. Then, you have people like Jeff Bezos who credit themselves with deserving their wealth and lead companies with delivery drivers peeing in bottles not to get fired. As a species, focusing on our competitive advantage has brought us to 100 seconds to midnight on the Doomsday clock: https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/ https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/ .
dontcare007 4y ago
"Chance favors the prepared mind" - one of my favorite quotes. The point being, chances come your way every day, and you need to be prepared to grab them.
- paulryanrogers 4y ago
  The sentiment may lose its power if factors like inequality and racism make the chances available wildly different for disadvantaged subsets of society. Hearing such quotes may be to them insult to injury if coming from well born or huge outliers (that got 1/million lucky). Even the most disadvantaged should still prepare themselves. And ideally get extra help, without pretense, from those who never had to face their precarious circumstances.

Quantity of luck has a bigger role to achieve success.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

Kelm 4y ago

Fair, unfortunately this is not something one can substantially improve upon ;)

caseysoftware 4y ago
But you can. The catch phrase for this is "increasing your luck surface area" There are all kinds of possibilities and opportunities in front of us every day. We're "lucky" when we can a) identify them and b) take advantage of them. There are lots of strategies for this ranging from the simple (learn more) to the complex (networking, the people kind) and everything can give you additional perspective, opportunities, etc, etc to make you "lucky." As you're successful with a few, you can build momentum, reputation, etc to grow your "luck"

photochemsyn 4y ago

I just finished reading this biography of the physicist Enrico Fermi, "The Pope of Physics" and while he was obviously very talented from a young age, there were a lot of points in his career from Italy to the United States where luck played a critical role. He was lucky that he was taken under the wing of a senior academic early on, well before he became famous or did any really significant work. That figure ensured that he and several other young physicists got academic appointments (when others tried equally hard to block those appointments, and put their favored proteges in those slots). He was also lucky that he was able to escape fascist Italy with his Jewish wife, and emigrate to the United States. However, it also kind of backs up the thesis here, as Fermi apparently worked very hard to lose his Italian accent once in America, as a means of more effectively communicating with the locals. He then became the leader of the Chicago reactor project, then an all-around consultant for the Los Alamos Manhattan Project.

dasil003 4y ago

This is such an impotent and sour-grapes refrain that someone always has to blurt out in any thread about “success”. Of course luck plays a huge role in success just as it does for all asymmetric outcomes in a chaotic environment. Just ask any formerly living thing over the last billion years about its fortunes. Shit happens, you can’t control it. However focusing on what you can’t control is to nullify your competitive advantage as a human: your brain. There’s a reason they say “luck favors the prepared mind”. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and play the hand you were dealt.

jjj123 4y ago
But we can control societal factors that cause success to be inequitably distributed. Through worker organization, redistribution of wealth, etc. It’s just that individuals that have benefited from this false meritocracy have a vested interest in the rest of us “hustling” at the individual level instead of banding together to change the system for everyone.
- robertlagrant 4y ago
  "Luck playing a part" is not the same as a false meritocracy.
  - DarylZero 4y ago
    It wasn't claimed to be.
theonemind 4y ago
I don't think it follows that he feels sorry for himself. This bias in human thought could use correcting for several reasons. It runs a bit like the "just world" fallacy. On one side, you have things like the Republican party, where millions vote against their own interests on the basis of a delusion of control. Then you have the general lack of social safety nets in America, because of the just-world fallacy that people get what they deserve. Then, you have people like Jeff Bezos who credit themselves with deserving their wealth and lead companies with delivery drivers peeing in bottles not to get fired. As a species, focusing on our competitive advantage has brought us to 100 seconds to midnight on the Doomsday clock: https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/ https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/ .

dontcare007 4y ago

"Chance favors the prepared mind" - one of my favorite quotes. The point being, chances come your way every day, and you need to be prepared to grab them.

paulryanrogers 4y ago
The sentiment may lose its power if factors like inequality and racism make the chances available wildly different for disadvantaged subsets of society. Hearing such quotes may be to them insult to injury if coming from well born or huge outliers (that got 1/million lucky). Even the most disadvantaged should still prepare themselves. And ideally get extra help, without pretense, from those who never had to face their precarious circumstances.