4 ms·

Who says I’m not taking charge of life? I just know the role that luck has to play in life as well. That way when I’m not lucky I don’t keep all that blame on m

Who says I’m not taking charge of life? I just know the role that luck has to play in life as well. That way when I’m not lucky I don’t keep all that blame on myself or when other people are unlucky I don’t blame them for their failures. Because who the hell knows?

FredPret 3y ago
My apologies - not calling you a loser. Just saying that blaming one’s own or other people’s success on luck will always lead to suboptimal outcomes for the blamer. Good and bad events will happen one way or another, and it’s up to each one of us to make the most of it. Therefore, if you think luck is the main determinant of outcomes, you’ll try much less hard.
- Podgajski 3y ago
  He went from calling something success to “making the most of it”. You’re assuming I’m a nihilist and I’m not. I’m going to die, but I don’t kill myself. In my opinion, if we looked at peoples success and failure as all based on luck, we would be much kinder to each other.
  - FredPret 3y ago
    That would be a horrible society. High achievers getting zero credit. Moping losers blaming their failures on “bad luck”. Zero reason to strive for greatness because you’ll get sympathy if you fail and jealousy if you succeed. No thanks.
    - Podgajski 3y ago
      This tells me a lot about you as a person. Let me tell you how I would see it. High achievers, knowing that they’re successful based on lock would be more helpful to people who didn’t have good luck. This would turn out to be a more stable and even society. I guess you like the separation of wealth we’re experiencing right now?
      - FredPret 3y ago
        Sadly, without a strong impetus to strive upward, there won’t be any high achievers to mooch off of or blame when things go wrong. Everyone gets a steady stream of good luck and bad luck. Consistently sailing upstream towards success takes a lot of grit and determination, something completely lacking in the minds of those who think they’re at the mercy of their circumstances.
        Podgajski 3y ago
        Well, I hope one day if you’re down on your luck, someone lend you a hand. I know I would.
        FredPret 3y ago
        I’ve been lucky lots of times in life. I’ve been helped by many, deserved and undeserved. But to remove the role of agency from success is an overreaction. The extreme right says life is a perfec meritocracy. The extreme left says it’s all down to luck and power dynamics. As usual, they are both wrong and it’s a healthy mix of both. But since agency is the only thing you control, it’s best to focus on that.
        Podgajski 3y ago
        I’m not removing the role of agency from success, as long as luck is on your side.
        FredPret 3y ago
        I wonder what someone like Viktor Frankl would think of all this.
        Podgajski 3y ago
        On the average, only those prisoners could keep alive who, after years of trekking from camp to camp, had lost all scruples in their fight for existence; they were prepared to use every means, honest and otherwise, even brutal force, theft, and betrayal of their friends, in order to save themselves. We who have come back, by the aid of many lucky chances or miracles - whatever one may choose to call them - we know: the best of us did not return. Viktor E. Frankl He would say he was lucky.

FredPret 3y ago

My apologies - not calling you a loser. Just saying that blaming one’s own or other people’s success on luck will always lead to suboptimal outcomes for the blamer. Good and bad events will happen one way or another, and it’s up to each one of us to make the most of it. Therefore, if you think luck is the main determinant of outcomes, you’ll try much less hard.

Podgajski 3y ago
He went from calling something success to “making the most of it”. You’re assuming I’m a nihilist and I’m not. I’m going to die, but I don’t kill myself. In my opinion, if we looked at peoples success and failure as all based on luck, we would be much kinder to each other.
- FredPret 3y ago
  That would be a horrible society. High achievers getting zero credit. Moping losers blaming their failures on “bad luck”. Zero reason to strive for greatness because you’ll get sympathy if you fail and jealousy if you succeed. No thanks.
  - Podgajski 3y ago
    This tells me a lot about you as a person. Let me tell you how I would see it. High achievers, knowing that they’re successful based on lock would be more helpful to people who didn’t have good luck. This would turn out to be a more stable and even society. I guess you like the separation of wealth we’re experiencing right now?
    - FredPret 3y ago
      Sadly, without a strong impetus to strive upward, there won’t be any high achievers to mooch off of or blame when things go wrong. Everyone gets a steady stream of good luck and bad luck. Consistently sailing upstream towards success takes a lot of grit and determination, something completely lacking in the minds of those who think they’re at the mercy of their circumstances.
      - Podgajski 3y ago
        Well, I hope one day if you’re down on your luck, someone lend you a hand. I know I would.
        FredPret 3y ago
        I’ve been lucky lots of times in life. I’ve been helped by many, deserved and undeserved. But to remove the role of agency from success is an overreaction. The extreme right says life is a perfec meritocracy. The extreme left says it’s all down to luck and power dynamics. As usual, they are both wrong and it’s a healthy mix of both. But since agency is the only thing you control, it’s best to focus on that.
        Podgajski 3y ago
        I’m not removing the role of agency from success, as long as luck is on your side.
        FredPret 3y ago
        I wonder what someone like Viktor Frankl would think of all this.
        Podgajski 3y ago
        On the average, only those prisoners could keep alive who, after years of trekking from camp to camp, had lost all scruples in their fight for existence; they were prepared to use every means, honest and otherwise, even brutal force, theft, and betrayal of their friends, in order to save themselves. We who have come back, by the aid of many lucky chances or miracles - whatever one may choose to call them - we know: the best of us did not return. Viktor E. Frankl He would say he was lucky.