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Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn (2003)

telegraph.co.uk

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Re: Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn (2003)

#11

Post by kristiandupont »

heyitsnick wrote: post #7

"unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else." Or, those who are too focused looking for something else generally consider themselves to be unlucky. Self-reporting on if you are "lucky" or not is a reflection on the positiveness, motivation and optimism of the person. Not if you are actually "lucky" or not. This study for me draws conclusions about people's outl…

Well, you could define luck as "percieved luck" - after all, what else is there? It doesn't really make sense for me to state that someone else is lucky.

Re: Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn (2003)

#12

Post by bgraves »

RiderOfGiraffes wrote: post #2

You should add a "2003" to the title - I was wondering why it looked familiar. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=878039

I love seeing older articles on HN. There are plenty of places to find the latest and "greatest" breaking news (tputh, reddit, digg, slashdot, etc.) but really appreciate Hacker News members' perspective on stories that have been around for some time.

Re: Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn (2003)

#13

Post by sophacles »

argv_empty wrote: post #5

I don't see a case they describe where luck as a factor has been isolated.

Luck doesn't exist. It is essentially a magic enchantment that provides its recipient with an ability to gain a positive outcome of chance events at a frequency above those provided by normal probability. Sure, there are some people who will 'beat the odds' on a regular basis, probability provides for this, however more people report being lucky than the probability suggests as well. Further, luck has a social connotation roughly equivelent to fortunate, but when the term lucky is used there is a nod to vague supernatural forces controlling outcomes, a la the Fates.

As such luck really cannot be isolated as a factor. Instead tho, people who claim to be lucky can easily be isolated. They can be studied for what makes them "lucky". In this case it seems to be at least somewhat correlated with openness to unexpected outcomes.

Re: Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn (2003)

#14

Post by sophacles »

philk wrote: post #8
heyitsnick wrote: post #7

"unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else." Or, those who are too focused looking for something else generally consider themselves to be unlucky. Self-reporting on if you are "lucky" or not is a reflection on the positiveness, motivation and optimism of the person. Not if you are actually "lucky" or not. This study for me draws conclusions about people's outl…

Self reporting that you are lucky is probably positively correlated with optimism. Optimism has a whole host of benefits that probably account for the "luck" that these individuals are enjoying.

I would hope so -- lucky is a magic property. Luck itself may be chance, but lucky is nonsense.

Re: Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn (2003)

#15

Post by btilly »

Sukotto wrote: post #10
RiderOfGiraffes wrote: post #2

You should add a "2003" to the title - I was wondering why it looked familiar. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=878039

Strange that the HN duplicate-checker missed this one. The urls look the same to me. otoh, I found it an interesting read and missed it the first time around so I'm glad it made it to the front page today.

The duplicate checker only checks for duplicates in the last x months (3 IIRC). I believe that this is deliberately so that "oldie but goody" posts can be reposted.

Re: Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn (2003)

#17

Post by heyitsnick »

kristiandupont wrote: post #11
heyitsnick wrote: post #7

"unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else." Or, those who are too focused looking for something else generally consider themselves to be unlucky. Self-reporting on if you are "lucky" or not is a reflection on the positiveness, motivation and optimism of the person. Not if you are actually "lucky" or not. This study for me draws conclusions about people's outl…

Well, you could define luck as "percieved luck" - after all, what else is there? It doesn't really make sense for me to state that someone else is lucky.

I agree. But that's exactly what the article says repeatedly.

Re: Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn (2003)

#18

Post by lionhearted »

sophacles wrote: post #13
argv_empty wrote: post #5

I don't see a case they describe where luck as a factor has been isolated.

Luck doesn't exist. It is essentially a magic enchantment that provides its recipient with an ability to gain a positive outcome of chance events at a frequency above those provided by normal probability. Sure, there are some people who will 'beat the odds' on a regular basis, probability provides for this, however more people report being lucky than the probability suggests as well. Further, luck has a social connot…

This is one of the single most insightful and inspiring comments I've read on here. Thank you.

If you have any more to say, or can recommend any related resources - books, articles, or so on - that would be massively appreciated. But even if this is it, all I can say is - wow. And thanks. The gears are turning in my head, as you've cleared up something for me that I could never quite get down. Thank you, this was huge.

Re: Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn (2003)

#19

Post by lqdshadow »

So boiled down to its fundamentals, lucky people are really those who open more doors to opportunities, notice the opportunities, and then take advantage of the opportunities. By increasing the possibilities, the probability rises that you will find good opportunities. To increase your ability to recognize opportunities rather than doubt and ignore them, you must be willing to fail many times in order to succeed the really good times. This is where the optimism and self-confidence come into play.

We see this same philosophy preached in other threads here with regard to successful businesses.

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