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Well, you're not helping by reinforcing the idea. People in general don't like people who get rich randomly (or as good as), because it's unfair (so it triggers

Well, you're not helping by reinforcing the idea. People in general don't like people who get rich randomly (or as good as), because it's unfair (so it triggers the anti-cheat response), and yet, it's needed. So we should be careful of the bias, and I think it'd be all the better if the occupation was taken by people who care about the definition of their occupation. The hate on traders is a feedback loop leading nowhere.

m52go 11y ago
I'm indifferent to the situation. I don't hate traders & I don't hate VCs. I quite admire the few I've met. In a sense, one could say traders embody the essence of the human spirit. They provide an essential service for the markets, as you say, and that's fine. I just don't desire to be a part of it.
jklein11 11y ago
Not sure why you got downvoted. This comment opened up my eyes to the reason why I am biased against traders. If I dislike people who are rewarded for the risks that they take I should also be sympathetic to those who took those risks and lost.
adventured 11y ago
I agree with your premise, but not the notion that getting rich randomly is unfair. It is often irrationally regarded as unfair however. For it to actually be unfair, there has to be a legitimately injured party. As an example, Flappy Bird's creator didn't injure anybody, and did not take anything from anyone else (I'm not sure if you can get more random, for this discussion, than that product's brief but sensational rise). There's no possibility of objectively defining the random aspect - what qualifies as random and what doesn't (varying from lottery winners to someone claiming Paul Allen fits the category). That logic hint makes it clear that the idea that getting rich randomly is unfair, is an invalid notion to begin with. It falls into the same camp as thinking that all wealth in general is unfair - a strictly subjective feeling, typically derived from a person's philosophy on life.

m52go 11y ago

I'm indifferent to the situation. I don't hate traders & I don't hate VCs. I quite admire the few I've met. In a sense, one could say traders embody the essence of the human spirit. They provide an essential service for the markets, as you say, and that's fine. I just don't desire to be a part of it.

jklein11 11y ago

Not sure why you got downvoted. This comment opened up my eyes to the reason why I am biased against traders. If I dislike people who are rewarded for the risks that they take I should also be sympathetic to those who took those risks and lost.

adventured 11y ago

I agree with your premise, but not the notion that getting rich randomly is unfair. It is often irrationally regarded as unfair however. For it to actually be unfair, there has to be a legitimately injured party. As an example, Flappy Bird's creator didn't injure anybody, and did not take anything from anyone else (I'm not sure if you can get more random, for this discussion, than that product's brief but sensational rise). There's no possibility of objectively defining the random aspect - what qualifies as random and what doesn't (varying from lottery winners to someone claiming Paul Allen fits the category). That logic hint makes it clear that the idea that getting rich randomly is unfair, is an invalid notion to begin with. It falls into the same camp as thinking that all wealth in general is unfair - a strictly subjective feeling, typically derived from a person's philosophy on life.