The Role of Luck in Life Success • Hacker News Board

Re: The Role of Luck in Life Success

#161

Post by raleec » Fri, Mar 02, 2018, 9:16 PM UTC

skookumchuck wrote: post #146

raleec wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's your perspective. I've been very lucky in my life. I was introduced to programming at a young age and found it immensely satisfying. I've been conditioned to work hard towards my goals, and have seen the benefits therein. I'm quite happy with my level of success, though I do intend to get much more. I believe that my lucky strokes have and will continue to multiply. But I also believe that anyone else with my…

> But I also believe that anyone else with my circumstances would have nearly identical results. Then there was no need for you to make any effort. After all, success just dropped on your head. You say you were "lucky" to be "conditioned to work hard"? I find such statements astonishing. Anyone can work hard, or not. It's a choice. Nobody is "victimized" by laziness. Jeez. How far will people go with excuses? By the…

Imagine for a second, that you managed to convince me that I am truly the master of my destiny, as are we all.

Wouldn't I then be lucky that we were both in this forum at this time?

We'd be so fortunate that you didn't get into a car accident yesterday that would have prevented my epiphany...

that you weren't abducted as an infant and never seen from again....

That your parents were together that fateful moment...

or maybe I misunderstand?

Re: The Role of Luck in Life Success

#162

Post by skookumchuck » Fri, Mar 02, 2018, 9:16 PM UTC

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #157

skookumchuck wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your experiences is all there is, of course you're a slave to them That's a fine excuse for being a loser. When you get tired of that, however, you can always choose better.

>That's a fine excuse for being a loser. When you get tired of that, however, you can always choose better. Insults are unnecessary. This kind of individualist, man-as-an-island concept is appealing but it isn't true. What are "you" made of that doesn't originate as something outside of your control? Of course it all was at the start, the way we get to feeling individualistic is by laundering our experiences, pretend…

So you take no responsibility for the choices you make. It's all someone else's fault, right? You're a hapless victim of the vicissitudes of life?

You chose that fate.

Me, I choose differently.

Re: The Role of Luck in Life Success

#163

Post by marnett » Fri, Mar 02, 2018, 9:18 PM UTC

iamleppert wrote: post #160

If the only thing that gets you out of bed in the morning is the blind pursuit of “success” for that alone, or money, that makes me sad.

Unfortunately that is an overwhelmingly large amount of people.

Re: The Role of Luck in Life Success

#164

Post by skookumchuck » Fri, Mar 02, 2018, 9:18 PM UTC

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #151

skookumchuck wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So put yourself into the right place. There's a reason people move to Silicon Valley, for example. Put the video game console down, turn the TV off, get up and go to where the opportunity is.

You're kind of ignoring all the reasons someone might be unlucky enough to be stuck in a certain place.

There's opportunity on the internet, too.

Re: The Role of Luck in Life Success

#165

Post by marnett » Fri, Mar 02, 2018, 9:22 PM UTC

skookumchuck wrote: post #154

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your experiences is all there is, of course you're a slave to them. E: Actually I should say there are influences outside of experiences, genetics for example. But you're a slave to those as well.

> Your experiences is all there is, of course you're a slave to them That's a fine excuse for being a loser. When you get tired of that, however, you can always choose better.

You are trying to instigate a bickering match with someone who is trying to educate you on epistemology. Dial down the toxicity and stop letting intellectual discourse fly over your head so swiftly.

Re: The Role of Luck in Life Success

#166

Post by UncleMeat » Fri, Mar 02, 2018, 9:23 PM UTC

downandout wrote: post #105

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet there are plenty of people that work very hard without reaching that goal.

My point was that it takes no better than average luck for people that choose to work hard in high paying fields and make good life/financial choices to become millionaires. It may not be easy to stay on that course, given human nature. But barring very bad luck (major health issues, etc.), these things are entirely within your control. Many people ascribe the consequences from bad or risky choices to bad luck, but t…

Does everybody have an equal opportunity to work in high paying fields? Or avoid major medical issues and expenses?

Re: The Role of Luck in Life Success

#167

Post by RoddaWallPro » Fri, Mar 02, 2018, 9:23 PM UTC

skookumchuck wrote: post #98

petra wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also the ingredients of hard work, I.e. preservance, energy, focus, etc are themselves dependent on luck - having the right genes, growth environment , health , etc - so that's another type of luck.

Claiming that working hard is "luck" is an absurd excuse for not bothering to try. The vast majority of people in the US are healthy and the environment in the US is the most conducive in the world to success. Stop making excuses.

I think if you took the time to research obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc, in America vs. other countries, you would not be spouting this nonsense. Americans have the ability to get in a bad car wreck and live because we have incredible emergency care. That's it. That is not health.

Re: The Role of Luck in Life Success

#168

Post by lisper » Fri, Mar 02, 2018, 9:24 PM UTC

aje403 wrote: post #156

lisper wrote: post #108

I am financially independent and it is almost entirely due to luck. I was in a stable career as an AI researcher when, in 2000, pretty much on a whim, I decided to apply to work at an obscure little startup company called Google. It was the only startup I had ever applied to at that point (until then my ambition had been to become a university professor). Since 2005 I have participated as a principal in half a dozen…

You were an AI researcher in 2000 and decided to take a risk and join a startup, this is a very poor definition of luck. Luck does always belong in the conversation - "All great events hang by a hair, I believe in luck, and the wise man neglects nothing which contributes to his destiny"

The lucky part was that I joined the one startup that turned into the runaway success out of the many hundreds that were available to choose from at the time that failed. This was during the height of the first dotcom boom. Next Big Things were a dime a dozen.

Re: The Role of Luck in Life Success

#169

Post by marnett » Fri, Mar 02, 2018, 9:25 PM UTC

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #157

skookumchuck wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your experiences is all there is, of course you're a slave to them That's a fine excuse for being a loser. When you get tired of that, however, you can always choose better.

>That's a fine excuse for being a loser. When you get tired of that, however, you can always choose better. Insults are unnecessary. This kind of individualist, man-as-an-island concept is appealing but it isn't true. What are "you" made of that doesn't originate as something outside of your control? Of course it all was at the start, the way we get to feeling individualistic is by laundering our experiences, pretend…

I think he is not interested in epistemology. But I always find discussions on the origins or human knowledge just as fascinating as you. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

It sounds like you may have already been exposed to it given the content of your arguments, but there is a very enjoyable debate/discussion between Foucault and Chomsky on the acquisitions of human knowledge and human nature [1] and your position sounds quite similar to the one Chomsky elaborates on.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wfNl2L0Gf8&t=760s

Re: The Role of Luck in Life Success

#170

Post by lisper » Fri, Mar 02, 2018, 9:27 PM UTC

skookumchuck wrote: post #139

lisper wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is easier said than done. The right place is usually only evident in retrospect. A lot of people move to Silicon Valley, work their freakin' asses off for decades, and still don't succeed. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that it's hopeless and that you should just give up and play video games. But I believe that dumb luck is a bigger factor than effort. Luck is necessary, and can be sufficient for success. E…

> But I believe that dumb luck is a bigger factor than effort. Make no effort, and your odds of failure are 100%. Your odds get better and better as you make smarter choices, put out the effort, and position yourself for success. > A lot Yeah, some fail. But most succeed in SV, the proof is in the housing prices.

> Make no effort, and your odds of failure are 100%.

That's not true. There are plenty of trust fund kids shopping at Prada.

> Your odds get better and better as you make smarter choices

That is true, of course, but better relative to what? There is enormous variance in the baselines, starting with, for example, whether you live in the U.S. or, say, Bangladesh.