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How to increase your luck surface area (2010)

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Re: How to increase your luck surface area (2010)

#31

Post by motohagiography »

Taleb talked about this with his recommendation to get exposure to randomness that has asymmetric upside, and is analogous to luck is preparedness meeting opportunity. What I like about the OP's model is it also explains the asymmetry of social media where people do very little at all and talk about is a lot because the kind of non-linear success we are aiming for is a function of exposure.

When you have wealth of any kind, you naturally orient to getting exposure to opportunity for diversified parts of it, but when you have a scarcity view, your decisions are necessarily all/nothing, and it even becomes a class culture thing. It's circumstances, but also learned attitude.

Related, I'm sympathetic to what's happening with GME and WSB, if a young persons net worth is four digits, it seems insane not to gamble it on options, as the housing bubble has cut off the last way for working people to get leverage. GME may mark the inflection point in the markets where young people realize it's their best or even only opportunity for leverage, and meme stocks are going to be the new normal because the economy doesn't provide anything better to invest in for under $50k. (that is, unless remote work makes distant property viable to live in)

Re: How to increase your luck surface area (2010)

#32

Post by asimjalis »

mettamage wrote: post #21
kharak wrote: post #11

Being passionate about something for a long time (not just a couple of hours or weeks) seems to be a rare quality. Too bad for those who lack it, as it seems to be a requirement for success in everything. There are so many posts that try to tell you how to get the most out of your passion, I haven't seen one that explains the origin of passion or whether it is possible to become passionate.

What also isn't talked about: __Burnout and Passions__ Here's a comparison: I once build a computer graphics engine in 2 weeks and a few years prior I played WoW for 2 weeks. In both cases I spent between 16 to 20 hours per day on it. I got ill, had an angry girlfriend (in the computer graphics timeline), and I did everything I wanted to do (it was done). __Passions and Interests__ I have a genuine interest in securi…

I found your introspection valuable. I work as a presales engineer. When a customer has a problem and is stuck on something I become obsessed with it. But as soon as we have a fix or a workaround I lose interest in the area. This makes it hard to generalize the solution or publish it as a blog post.

Re: How to increase your luck surface area (2010)

#33

Post by the-dude »

I practice this in billiards/carambole ( 3 balls, no pockets ).

I try to avoid 'perpendicular' approaches, instead opting for shots with big angles, even if they are technically more difficult.

This literally translates into a larger area where I have the chance to touch the 3rd ball.

Re: How to increase your luck surface area (2010)

#34

Post by rmelhem »

pototo666 wrote: post #28
kharak wrote: post #11

Being passionate about something for a long time (not just a couple of hours or weeks) seems to be a rare quality. Too bad for those who lack it, as it seems to be a requirement for success in everything. There are so many posts that try to tell you how to get the most out of your passion, I haven't seen one that explains the origin of passion or whether it is possible to become passionate.

I haven't seen one that explains the origin of passion or whether it is possible to become passionate. --- As Bezos said, you can't choose your passion, your passion chooses you.

yep, i suddenly felt in love with music after my dad passed away - was in college studying materials engineering, and made a living out of music for 6 years (until the pandemics)

Re: How to increase your luck surface area (2010)

#35

Post by EGreg »

kharak wrote: post #11

Being passionate about something for a long time (not just a couple of hours or weeks) seems to be a rare quality. Too bad for those who lack it, as it seems to be a requirement for success in everything. There are so many posts that try to tell you how to get the most out of your passion, I haven't seen one that explains the origin of passion or whether it is possible to become passionate.

Here is a comment:

Passion is a direct result of three things:

1. Awareness of a major problem that affects a lot of people

2. Becoming convinced of a certain solution that is currently not being implemented

3. Having your needs met for a long time, also known as financial freedom

To the extent you find people with 1 and 3, you can recruit them with 2.

Re: How to increase your luck surface area (2010)

#36

Post by OgAstorga »

Invictus0 wrote: post #18

There is no such thing as being lucky. It is just a matter of perspective. Luck is what happens when people spontaneously feel grateful.

Isn't a good hand in Texa's considered luck? Isn't being invited by M. Zuckerberg to help code a side project named thefacebook considered luck (whether or not you've accepted)?

Re: How to increase your luck surface area (2010)

#40

Post by carrozo »

I’ve had this old post from Marc Andreessen pinned in my mental browser for a long time now. There are four types of luck and you can influence three of them:

Chance I is completely impersonal; you can't influence it.

Chance II favors those who have a persistent curiosity about many things coupled with an energetic willingness to experiment and explore.

Chance III favors those who have a sufficient background of sound knowledge plus special abilities in observing, remembering, recalling, and quickly forming significant new associations.

Chance IV favors those with distinctive, if not eccentric hobbies, personal lifestyles, and motor behaviors.

https://pmarchive.com/luck_and_the_entrepreneur.html

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