The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind
nautil.us
The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind
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Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind
#2One of the experiments in the post mentions that in order to claim the prize, you could either count the number of photographs or easily discover the message "you can stop counting, there are 43 photographs on here." What I wonder is if there are negative correlations here as well - for example if lucky people are better at (and more open to) discovering things, does that also mean they're more likely to blindly follow directions and lack critical thinking? The first thing I thought when I saw that was "what if they're lying or they made a mistake and there weren't exactly 43 photographs?"
Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind
#3which is also the key to bad luck.
Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind
#4I think the key to good luck is mainly to be lucky and also to have good judgement. When I was younger I was very open minded, pursued a lot of things but I didn't have good judgement in what I did and who I did it with. So in the end a lot of things I did turned out to be big mistakes.
Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind
#5One of the experiments in the post mentions that in order to claim the prize, you could either count the number of photographs or easily discover the message "you can stop counting, there are 43 photographs on here." What I wonder is if there are negative correlations here as well - for example if lucky people are better at (and more open to) discovering things, does that also mean they're more likely to blindly foll…
I would personally be more worried about not doing any deep thought. At least I know for myself when I'm in deep thought on some subject, I don't notice anything around me. I walked past my own wife on the street while she was trying to get my attention. That seems very detrimental to the kind of luck the researcher was testing. Maybe my best bet is to try to switch between being present and thinking.
Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind
#6I've always wondered about the role that the reticular activating system plays in being lucky.
If you are expecting to find good opportunities you may spot them more. I have seen many typical people blunder blindly past once-in-a-lifetime-opportunities.
Many people just don't pay attention to massive opportunities. They just don't notice them or seem to not care when these things are right in front of their noses.
Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind
#7I think the key to good luck is mainly to be lucky and also to have good judgement. When I was younger I was very open minded, pursued a lot of things but I didn't have good judgement in what I did and who I did it with. So in the end a lot of things I did turned out to be big mistakes.
Luckly as you get older your judgment improves.
Note. It doesn't mean older people have better judgment. It only means you have better judgment than your younger self.
Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind
#8I've always wondered about the role that the reticular activating system plays in being lucky. If you are expecting to find good opportunities you may spot them more. I have seen many typical people blunder blindly past once-in-a-lifetime-opportunities. Many people just don't pay attention to massive opportunities. They just don't notice them or seem to not care when these things are right in front of their noses.
Could you give some examples?
Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind
#9I'm skeptical of a definition of luck where you can be trained to be lucky. That's not luck, that's skill. There is no skill to luck by definition.
But let's take what we've got here and engage with it:
>She came up with a few basic strategies for parents to teach their kids, including being open to new experiences, learning to relax, maintaining social connections, and (yes) talking to strangers. All of these techniques had one theme in common—being more open to your environment both physically and emotionally.
Okay but this is still luck, we've just moved it further down the chain. Now these are kids who are lucky enough to be born into a family which is concerned enough with these things to train them. Heck even prior to this training what is it that a kid needs to become an adult who has 'learned to relax'? Probably a safe environment, one where relaxing won't be punished. Same goes for 'talking to strangers', even more traditional concepts of luck being related to hard work, these all rely on growing up in an environment where these traits are present and are rewarded frequently enough for a kid to draw the connection. That is luck and I don't think these articles with the implicit message: Skill is the real luck, ever do a very good job, they just smuggle the luck away into some other unaddressed reality of our environment.
Re: The Key to Good Luck Is an Open Mind
#10"The strategies included using meditation to enhance intuition, relaxation, visualizing good fortune, and talking to at least one new person every week."
These are basic techniques that have been taught by almost every spiritual system for thousands of years. Unfortunately for all of my atheist-materialist friends, you have to change your metaphysical views to employ these techniques.