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Study Concludes that Luck, not Talent or Smarts, Results in Wealth

posted by janrinok on Saturday March 03 2018, @11:56PM   Printer-friendly
from the just-my-luck dept.

Robotron writes:

MIT Tech Review reports on a new study which used computer model to analyze wealth distribution in society. It concludes that the majority of riches do not result from talent, intelligence or hard work - but luck. Those who succeed most in modern society are born well and experience several 'lucky events' which they exploit, but are of mediocre talent. The study's abstract states that the model has potential for encouraging investment in the genuinely gifted, and summarizes:

"...if it is true that some degree of talent is necessary to be successful in life, almost never the most talented people reach the highest peaks of success, being overtaken by mediocre but sensibly luckier individuals. As to our knowledge, this counterintuitive result - although implicitly suggested between the lines in a vast literature - is quantified here for the first time."

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  • (Score: 1, Troll) by jmorris on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:58AM (1 child)

    by jmorris (4844) on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:58AM (#647384)

    Many are in the right place at the right time and simply fail to notice the opportunity as it passes them by. That is a big part of success. Being the best at a specialty just means you will be a valuable employee slaving away in a cube farm unless you have that risk taking attitude and keep alert to opportunity when it appears.

    We see these "studies" every time Democrats are wanting to launch a fresh round of coveting and stealing. You have to remove the idea those who have more did something to earn it to rationalize seizing it. Most people still have enough residual morality to resist the idea of outright theft. So Progs control education, media and language itself to break that resistance down. Look at terms like "unearned income" rising to popularity, official use in the tax code, etc. instead of "investment income."

    Striking it super rich does have an element of luck, but becoming a top 1% person is almost automatic if one does certain things and doing other things will just as surely doom one to the bottom of the stack.

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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 04 2018, @02:48AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 04 2018, @02:48AM (#647439)

    Many are in the right place at the right time and simply fail to notice the opportunity as it passes them by. That is a big part of success. Being the best at a specialty just means you will be a valuable employee slaving away in a cube farm unless you have that risk taking attitude and keep alert to opportunity when it appears.

    ...and the existing financial resources to survive taking a risk that might not pan out.