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Re:9 Things I Learned in 90 Years – From the Creator of Choo... by AnimalMuppet on Tuesday September 23, 2025 @09:01AM (#45346441)
Depends on what happens if you lose the flip. If it's zero, vs a payout if you win, sure, maximize the number of flips.

But take, for example, smoking. You're flipping where the best outcome is zero, and the worst is cancer. Minimize the number of those flips.

Re:9 Things I Learned in 90 Years – From the Creator of Choo... by bluecalm on Tuesday September 23, 2025 @02:22PM (#45350883)
There are many positively skewed coin flips as well which we don't take because of various biases, fears, habits or our upbringing. I like a quote from Magnus Carlsen (the chess player): "The correct mindset in chess is somewhere between optimist and delusional". I think it applies to life as well.

I am naturally pessimistic I think I lost a lot of opportunities because of it. Thankfully I also get those periods where I am blindly all-in on something. Some of those made me very good at useless things but some resulted in very good opportunities and then outcomes.

Energetic optimists who avoid very dumb choices do very well in life in my experience. People who talk about luck a lot usually can't produce a decently long list of things they tried or keep making blunders (smoking, alcohol, associating with destructive and apathetic people).

Re:9 Things I Learned in 90 Years – From the Creator of Choo... by ant6n on Thursday September 25, 2025 @11:05AM (#45373538)
"The correct mindset in chess is somewhere between optimist and delusional" - until you need to raise money for your delusional project.