Luck!

[Sriram]

Hi everyone,

Here is an article about the importance of circumstances (bring in the right place at the right time) that make someone succeed.

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170921-why-you-shouldnt-imitate-bill-gates-if-you-want-to-be-rich

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Bill Gates is a lot luckier than you might realise. He may be a very talented man who worked his way up from college dropout to the top spot on the list of the world’s richest people. But his extreme success perhaps tells us more about the importance of circumstances beyond his control than it does about how skill and perseverance are rewarded.

We often fall for the idea that the exceptional performers are the most skilled or talented. But this is flawed. Exceptional performances tend to occur in exceptional circumstances. Top performers are often the luckiest people, who have benefited from being at the right place and right time. They are what we call outliers, whose performances may be examples set apart from the system that everyone else works within.

Many treat Gates, and other highly successful people like him, as deserving of huge attention and reward, as people from whom we could learn a lot about how to succeed. But assuming life’s “winners” got there from performance alone is likely to lead to disappointment. Even if you could imitate everything Gates did, you would not be able to replicate his initial good fortune.

Being in the right place (succeeding in a context where early outcome has an enduring impact) at the right time (having early luck) can be so important that it overwhelms merits. With this in mind there’s a good case that we shouldn’t just reward or imitate life’s winners and expect to have similar success. But there is a case that the winners should consider imitating the likes of Gates (who became a philanthropist) or Warren Buffett (who argues that richer Americans should pay higher taxes) who have chosen to use their wealth and success to do good things. The winners who appreciate their luck and do not take it all deserve more of our respect.

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This is so obvious that I have to agree!

Any views?!

Cheers.

Sriram

[Nearly Sane]

I have to admit to being slightly confused here. Surely if someone was saying that only the most talented can successes in an extraordinary way, they are also describing a question of luck in that the talent isn't there by any way other than luck?

To be honest I'm not sure I have ever heard anyone say that because Bill Gates is the richest person, he is the most talented, even in his field.

[ekim]

There is a Chinese story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer's neighbours sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbours congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?"

Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg, they let him off. Now was that good luck or bad luck?  Who knows?

[Nearly Sane]

Just to note my thanks to ekim for that. Didn't know the story.

[Walter]

Just to note my thanks to ekim for that. Didn't know the story.

course you didn't , he just made it up  aren't you the lucky one.

[Nearly Sane]

course you didn't , he just made it up  aren't you the lucky one.

And he went to all the trouble of creating a website

http://www.naute.com/inspiration/luck.phtml

[ekim]

Just to note my thanks to ekim for that. Didn't know the story.

It's a story I came across in the dim days of the past when I was looking at Taoism.  I think I might have posted it before, maybe on the BBC site.

[Bramble]

It's a story I came across in the dim days of the past when I was looking at Taoism.  I think I might have posted it before, maybe on the BBC site.

It's a story with numerous variations and the version you tell is often just the beginning. It can go on and on. I don't know where it comes from but it crops up a lot in Buddhist circles, where it is generally thought of as a Buddhist story. The Tibetans claim it as their own and others probably do likewise.