Re:The most successful people are just the luckiest, a new c...
by michaelmrose on Monday October 21, 2019 @12:07PM
(#21313881)
If you were as unmotivated as described and also born poor instead of well off you would have found yourself homeless instead of living off your savings when you burnt out and instead of posting on hn you would probably be rotting in the ground.
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Re:The most successful people are just the luckiest, a new c...
by pmoriarty on Monday October 21, 2019 @12:09PM
(#21313916)
Absolutely. I'm not saying that luck plays no role. It clearly does. But it's not, as the article claims, "just luck" (unless you don't believe in free will, in which case it is).
Parenthetically, I was born poor. My family had very little money when I was born, and what little they had they left behind in the old country when we immigrated to America. So I was poor when I was really young, and middle class by the time I left high school, thanks to the hard work (and maybe luck) of my parents.
But your point is taken... if I was really poor when it came time to work and I refused to do so, then I'd feel the lash of the economic whip, as I'm just about to do so now as I've burnt through my savings yet again....
Re:The most successful people are just the luckiest, a new c...
by agota on Monday October 21, 2019 @01:08PM
(#21314650)
Who you are is a result of genetics and environment which can be referred to as "luck" since presumably you didn't choose to be born to your parents.
So, while I think that personal responsibility is a valuable perspective, I do think that ultimately what you describe boils down to "luck".