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Have you considered that people who get rich are just better than you? Obviously other factors are at play too, but anybody who's launched themselves up a tier in wealth usually are brilliant, bold risk takers, work super hard, and create way more value for the world than you do.

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Aleksi Roinila

@aleroi

Dec 20, 2021

Replying to

@Aella_Girl

No, because none of those traits guarantee success without a huge amount of luck added to the mix. We don't tend to keep track of how many brilliant, hard-working and bold risk takers don't succeed because our perception is skewed by survivorship bias.

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Aella

@Aella_Girl

Yeah, and people talk about luck like it's some random thing handed down by god like a lottery. You *can affect* your luck; some people deliberately place themselves into situations that are more likely to have 'luck' strike. Poker is a huge luck-based game but skill is clear.

8:23 PM · Dec 20, 2021

Replying to

That's true. I never said working and being smart doesn't matter. It can put you in places where it's possible to seize opportunities and get lucky more often than without them. But you still needs loads of luck to carry you through.

Replying to

Yes, poker is a decent analogy. You can have all the skill, determination, intelligence, and persistence in the world and you can still lose because you didn't get lucky. Meanwhile someone far less skilled than you can win because they got lucky.

A man for all seasons landscaping

Replying to

and

How does inherited wealth feed into this terrible take? You reckon Jim Walton got rich because he worked so hard or because of who his family is?

Replying to

and

Not a difficult concept really, we admire sport stars, artists, etc for their brilliance, business skills are the same, not evenly distributed. People just need to deal with it, just as they deal with the fact that they are not Renaldo, Messi or Usain Bolt, or Warren Buffet.

Replying to

and

Even with poker, skill is about playing a numbers game: you lose a lot of bets and bid more in the ones you more likely to win. Do thousands of times and accept the losses, and overall you come up positive. With life you get maybe a couple bets you can afford to lose.

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