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> you can increase your "luck surface" by doing certain things ....and your chances of being able to do those things (without severe risk of poverty and homele

> you can increase your "luck surface" by doing certain things ....and your chances of being able to do those things (without severe risk of poverty and homelessness) are increased dramatically by having been lucky enough to be born wealthy, or at least upper-middle-class.

draugadrotten 4y ago
> ....and your chances of being able to do those things (without severe risk of poverty and homelessness) are increased dramatically by having been lucky enough to be born wealthy, or at least upper-middle-class. That's some good insight porn right there!
- TuringTest 4y ago
  > That's some good insight porn right there! ...and yet, all poor people know it by heart (unless they were born into a rich family that has just fallen from grace), , because it's totally true. For more good insight: wealthy families know a lot more about how to make money when you have some money. Poor families know a lot more about avoiding the risk of being totally broke from an unlucky event, because they know they'd be totally unable to recover from it (not having the safety net of education and wealthy contacts that the upper-middle class have even when they go broke).
  - LouisSayers 4y ago
    Somewhat true except for the fact that education isn't fixed. It's a variable that changes. You might start with little wealth and accumulate education on your journey. Therefore in the early years when you lose wealth it's difficult to accumulate more, but over time it can become easier as you are more educated and experienced. Having little wealth when young also allows you to live on very little - when combined with an education you can use this very nicely to say bootstrap a product.
    - TuringTest 4y ago
      Right, education is a form of capital. Which means that those who begin with more of it will have a head-start which grows exponentially, leaving behind those which start with none of it.
Swizec 4y ago
> ....and your chances of being able to do those things (without severe risk of poverty and homelessness) are increased dramatically by having been lucky enough to be born wealthy, or at least upper-middle-class. While this is true, it also isn’t helpful. Play the cards you have, not the cards you wish you had. You always gotta start somewhere. Might as well start with what you’ve got and go from there.
- Sebb767 4y ago
  I don't know why this is getting downvoted. Yes, inequality exists and it sucks, but you still need to make the best out of what you have. Also, a lot of people seem to far overestimate the work and risk involved. This doesn't help really poor people, obviously, but the amount of people with sufficient money, backing and time that complained they'd start a company if they "only also had $20 million backing from their parents" is staggering.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    People don't want to admit it involves hard work and luck - they'd rather think that Bill Gates got to where he is because of his parents (even though there are thousands/millions with similar parents and backgrounds who didn't get even close). Because one line of thought leads to: "I couldn't do anything, the game was rigged from the start" and the other leads to "I didn't do as much as I could have done."
    - Swizec 4y ago
      > People don't want to admit it involves hard work and luck My favorite realization from actually playing cards. We used to play a lot of rummy on vacations as a family. Like a lot. I kept losing. Hard. Absolutely destroyed. If only I could get this one card to complete my hand, I’d win every time. But it just wouldn’t come! I had terrible luck. Someone else always ended up winning before I got the one card I needed to make the high score and beat everyone else into submission. It was infuriating. After a while I changed tactics. No waiting. Make a play on every play. Something, anything, with whatever cards you’ve got. Find a way to make the card you just picked up work. Suddenly I was winning almost every game. Everyone complained how much it sucks to play cards with me. How does this kid always get exactly the perfect card!? Now I’m banned from playing cards with family. Last time I played rummy was with my girlfriend’s family over Christmas a few years ago. They banned me immediately. Cards never come up again in conversation lol. It really isn’t about the cards. They’re just the ingredient.
MilnerRoute 4y ago
Someone once seriously proposed making the final determining decision for who gets into Harvard be based on...a random drawing. (From an oversized pool of qualified applicants.) The idea was students wouldn't go through the rest of their life thinking they'd prevailed in a meritocracy, and had earned and deserved every bit of their future success. They'd always have to acknowledge: some of it was pure luck.
- leoc 4y ago
  It's an excellent idea which has been proposed more than once, including by me. ;)
  - vkou 4y ago
    It's an excellent idea for people who want to go to Harvard, and maybe even society at large, but a terrible idea for people who have gone to Harvard. And for Harvard. And Harvard cares about the latter a lot more than it does about the former.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
- etothepii 4y ago
  It has the additional added benefits: - accepts that the admission team is not infallible. - allows for the drawing pool to be more representative of some target demographic if one believes that the selection panel has inherent bias.
- ska 4y ago
  This is an old idea. If you believe the pool of qualified candidates is much bigger than the student body for a school like this (pretty easily supportable, imo) then this is also obviously a good idea - if the primary purpose of the school is to provide a great education to any qualified individuals who exist. I don't think any reading of the history of the ivy's and similar schools can really support the latter.
- 4y ago
goodpoint 4y ago
> wealthy, or at least upper-middle-class. "at least"?! upper-middle-class in US puts you well in the 0.5% of world population.

draugadrotten 4y ago

TuringTest 4y ago
> That's some good insight porn right there! ...and yet, all poor people know it by heart (unless they were born into a rich family that has just fallen from grace), , because it's totally true. For more good insight: wealthy families know a lot more about how to make money when you have some money. Poor families know a lot more about avoiding the risk of being totally broke from an unlucky event, because they know they'd be totally unable to recover from it (not having the safety net of education and wealthy contacts that the upper-middle class have even when they go broke).
- LouisSayers 4y ago
  Somewhat true except for the fact that education isn't fixed. It's a variable that changes. You might start with little wealth and accumulate education on your journey. Therefore in the early years when you lose wealth it's difficult to accumulate more, but over time it can become easier as you are more educated and experienced. Having little wealth when young also allows you to live on very little - when combined with an education you can use this very nicely to say bootstrap a product.
  - TuringTest 4y ago
    Right, education is a form of capital. Which means that those who begin with more of it will have a head-start which grows exponentially, leaving behind those which start with none of it.

Swizec 4y ago

> ....and your chances of being able to do those things (without severe risk of poverty and homelessness) are increased dramatically by having been lucky enough to be born wealthy, or at least upper-middle-class. While this is true, it also isn’t helpful. Play the cards you have, not the cards you wish you had. You always gotta start somewhere. Might as well start with what you’ve got and go from there.

Sebb767 4y ago
I don't know why this is getting downvoted. Yes, inequality exists and it sucks, but you still need to make the best out of what you have. Also, a lot of people seem to far overestimate the work and risk involved. This doesn't help really poor people, obviously, but the amount of people with sufficient money, backing and time that complained they'd start a company if they "only also had $20 million backing from their parents" is staggering.
- bombcar 4y ago
  People don't want to admit it involves hard work and luck - they'd rather think that Bill Gates got to where he is because of his parents (even though there are thousands/millions with similar parents and backgrounds who didn't get even close). Because one line of thought leads to: "I couldn't do anything, the game was rigged from the start" and the other leads to "I didn't do as much as I could have done."
  - Swizec 4y ago
    > People don't want to admit it involves hard work and luck My favorite realization from actually playing cards. We used to play a lot of rummy on vacations as a family. Like a lot. I kept losing. Hard. Absolutely destroyed. If only I could get this one card to complete my hand, I’d win every time. But it just wouldn’t come! I had terrible luck. Someone else always ended up winning before I got the one card I needed to make the high score and beat everyone else into submission. It was infuriating. After a while I changed tactics. No waiting. Make a play on every play. Something, anything, with whatever cards you’ve got. Find a way to make the card you just picked up work. Suddenly I was winning almost every game. Everyone complained how much it sucks to play cards with me. How does this kid always get exactly the perfect card!? Now I’m banned from playing cards with family. Last time I played rummy was with my girlfriend’s family over Christmas a few years ago. They banned me immediately. Cards never come up again in conversation lol. It really isn’t about the cards. They’re just the ingredient.

MilnerRoute 4y ago

Someone once seriously proposed making the final determining decision for who gets into Harvard be based on...a random drawing. (From an oversized pool of qualified applicants.) The idea was students wouldn't go through the rest of their life thinking they'd prevailed in a meritocracy, and had earned and deserved every bit of their future success. They'd always have to acknowledge: some of it was pure luck.

leoc 4y ago
It's an excellent idea which has been proposed more than once, including by me. ;)
- vkou 4y ago
  It's an excellent idea for people who want to go to Harvard, and maybe even society at large, but a terrible idea for people who have gone to Harvard. And for Harvard. And Harvard cares about the latter a lot more than it does about the former.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
etothepii 4y ago
It has the additional added benefits: - accepts that the admission team is not infallible. - allows for the drawing pool to be more representative of some target demographic if one believes that the selection panel has inherent bias.
ska 4y ago
This is an old idea. If you believe the pool of qualified candidates is much bigger than the student body for a school like this (pretty easily supportable, imo) then this is also obviously a good idea - if the primary purpose of the school is to provide a great education to any qualified individuals who exist. I don't think any reading of the history of the ivy's and similar schools can really support the latter.
4y ago

goodpoint 4y ago

> wealthy, or at least upper-middle-class. "at least"?! upper-middle-class in US puts you well in the 0.5% of world population.