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What’s with all the woo hoo here on HN? The very definition of the word luck goes against your “frame it on the wall” feely good saying. “success or failure ap

What’s with all the woo hoo here on HN? The very definition of the word luck goes against your “frame it on the wall” feely good saying. “success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions.” but I guess you’re also saying that people who get cancer are just letting it happen? Maybe they should’ve investigated the edges. You see there are two types of luck, good luck and bad luck. How do you know if by increasing your good luck in one area you’re not increasing your bad luck in another?

thfuran 3y ago
"Apparently" doesn't mean "actually".
- Podgajski 3y ago
  so what? That doesn’t change what I’m saying.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - thfuran 3y ago
    So that definition you keep posting doesn't say what you're saying it says. That which is apparently not caused by one's actions might, in fact, be largely caused by one's actions. Yes, there are things that are not in your ability to control and perhaps you could call that "true luck", but even your given definition admits labeling things that can be affected by personal actions as luck.
stpe 3y ago
It is a numbers game. And by increasing the number of chances to "play", you increase the probability of scoring (i.e. "increase your luck surface area"). > How do you know if by increasing your good luck in one area you’re not increasing your bad luck in another? I think you do know. Eat healthy and move => most likely will increase the probability of be able to be more active at an older age. Build and launch projects => increase the probability of building a profitable business (but if doing that makes you burnout - sure, you could say you increased your "bad luck" from a health perspective)
broscillator 3y ago
In these comments your agency is entirely aimed at negativity. In order to justify this you reframe it as realism. It's kind of like walking outside with your attention constantly focused on the fact that you might step on dog shit. If you do this, your agency is pulled away from appreciating a beautiful flower, or interchanging smiles with a pretty person, or seeing a hundred dollar bill off to the side. The fact that it is true that you can step on dog shit doesn't make it more true than the fact that most of the time you don't step on dog shit, and that you have the agency to walk and go around as if you weren't going to step on dog shit today.
- Podgajski 3y ago
  Your interpretation of my comments is negative. I’m not saying you can’t change your opportunity in life, I’m saying that if luck has anything to do with your success or failure, then it’s all based on luck, and nothing to do with what opportunities you create. It may will be that I do everything wrong in life and limit my opportunities, and still win the lottery because I tripped and fell on my face and lo and behold there was a winning lottery ticket that someone misplaced. What I am saying over and over again is increasing your odds of success. Does not change your luck. Just like you cannot change the fact if a coin lands on heads or tails. You have zero agency in that outcome.
  - broscillator 3y ago
    It might also be that you find that lottery ticket and don't play it, because you believe you have no agency to do anything with the money anyway. > Just like you cannot change the fact if a coin lands on heads or tails. You can, just throw the coin again until it lands the way you want.
    - Podgajski 3y ago
      > You can, just throw the coin again until it lands the way you want. Oh, I didn’t realize life is that simple. I can just keep doing things until they turn out the way I want.
whstl 3y ago
Respectfully, I find your definition of luck more "woo woo" than everyone else's. I might be misunderstanding your point, but other people are treating luck as mere chance or odds, while you seem to me to be treating it as something binary that sounds a bit like "destiny" or "predeterminism".
- Podgajski 3y ago
  Yes, at any point in time, you can be lucky or unlucky. By changing the odds of an outcome, you’re not changing your luck, you’re changing the odds. Even having 99.999% certainty you can still be unlucky and land in that percent. Probability is not deterministic. And what determines the outcome? Luck.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
bsdpufferfish 3y ago
> The very definition of the word luck Maybe you can define it for us.
the_only_law 3y ago
> What’s with all the woo hoo here on HN? It’s mostly pseudo-intellectual posturing. Code monkeys desperately striving for some perceived superiority.

thfuran 3y ago

"Apparently" doesn't mean "actually".

Podgajski 3y ago
so what? That doesn’t change what I’m saying.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- thfuran 3y ago
  So that definition you keep posting doesn't say what you're saying it says. That which is apparently not caused by one's actions might, in fact, be largely caused by one's actions. Yes, there are things that are not in your ability to control and perhaps you could call that "true luck", but even your given definition admits labeling things that can be affected by personal actions as luck.

stpe 3y ago

It is a numbers game. And by increasing the number of chances to "play", you increase the probability of scoring (i.e. "increase your luck surface area"). > How do you know if by increasing your good luck in one area you’re not increasing your bad luck in another? I think you do know. Eat healthy and move => most likely will increase the probability of be able to be more active at an older age. Build and launch projects => increase the probability of building a profitable business (but if doing that makes you burnout - sure, you could say you increased your "bad luck" from a health perspective)

broscillator 3y ago

In these comments your agency is entirely aimed at negativity. In order to justify this you reframe it as realism. It's kind of like walking outside with your attention constantly focused on the fact that you might step on dog shit. If you do this, your agency is pulled away from appreciating a beautiful flower, or interchanging smiles with a pretty person, or seeing a hundred dollar bill off to the side. The fact that it is true that you can step on dog shit doesn't make it more true than the fact that most of the time you don't step on dog shit, and that you have the agency to walk and go around as if you weren't going to step on dog shit today.

Podgajski 3y ago
Your interpretation of my comments is negative. I’m not saying you can’t change your opportunity in life, I’m saying that if luck has anything to do with your success or failure, then it’s all based on luck, and nothing to do with what opportunities you create. It may will be that I do everything wrong in life and limit my opportunities, and still win the lottery because I tripped and fell on my face and lo and behold there was a winning lottery ticket that someone misplaced. What I am saying over and over again is increasing your odds of success. Does not change your luck. Just like you cannot change the fact if a coin lands on heads or tails. You have zero agency in that outcome.
- broscillator 3y ago
  It might also be that you find that lottery ticket and don't play it, because you believe you have no agency to do anything with the money anyway. > Just like you cannot change the fact if a coin lands on heads or tails. You can, just throw the coin again until it lands the way you want.
  - Podgajski 3y ago
    > You can, just throw the coin again until it lands the way you want. Oh, I didn’t realize life is that simple. I can just keep doing things until they turn out the way I want.

whstl 3y ago

Respectfully, I find your definition of luck more "woo woo" than everyone else's. I might be misunderstanding your point, but other people are treating luck as mere chance or odds, while you seem to me to be treating it as something binary that sounds a bit like "destiny" or "predeterminism".

Podgajski 3y ago
Yes, at any point in time, you can be lucky or unlucky. By changing the odds of an outcome, you’re not changing your luck, you’re changing the odds. Even having 99.999% certainty you can still be unlucky and land in that percent. Probability is not deterministic. And what determines the outcome? Luck.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

bsdpufferfish 3y ago

> The very definition of the word luck Maybe you can define it for us.

the_only_law 3y ago

> What’s with all the woo hoo here on HN? It’s mostly pseudo-intellectual posturing. Code monkeys desperately striving for some perceived superiority.