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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."
(Score: 5, Insightful) by stretch611 on Sunday March 04 2018, @01:39AM (11 children)
Its only luck, if you consider luck the reason of who gets born into the wealthy families already.
There is a saying on Wall St, "To turn $10,000 into $20,000 takes a lot of skill and hard work (and many fail); To turn $10,000,000 into $20,000,000 is inevitable." It is a lot easier to manage your money, when you do not have to worry about where your next meal will come from if you are wrong. You can take higher risks when your livelihood is not on the line. Also, if there is a downturn, if you can afford to wait it out for a rebound, it makes a lot more money than having to sell at a loss so that your family doesn't starve or get evicted.
If you are in or go to college... If your family is paying all the bills... including rent, food, and spending money while you are there... You can go to class... have time to talk to professors and other students if you have questions, plenty of time to get the work done, and have time to socialize to meet other people with their own ideas and make friendships that will get your foot in the door for years to come.
If you need to work while in college... You go to class... you run out as soon as it ends to get to work on time, you leave work exhausted get home and fall asleep. You are lucky to get all your work done on time and probably have no hope of waiting after class to get your turn to talk the professor with everyone waiting before you. Lets face it, your grades most likely will not be as good either with your time constraints... you may do well in your field if you are gifted, but there are a lot of other subjects you need to take too. Even if you are only working part time, it will still take a lot out of you... and you may need to spend a bunch of time going back and forth.
If you are a model/actress... It is easier if you come from pre-existing wealth as well. You can grow up with all the best modeling schools, trained in proper poise, even have your parents around to take you to needed auditions and talent competitions. As you get older, you have the money to travel to and spend the time in expensive places that will get you noticed. If you are poor and are forced to work for a living, it is much harder to spend the time getting noticed or have the time to spend in a spa to sit and wait in order to get the best skin and complexion. Not to mention, it costs more money to eat healthy, and daily life stresses will make a difference on your health and looks.
Even athletes... Having access to the best gym equipment is expensive. If you can afford the expensive and/or exclusive clubs, you can guarantee that the gym always has enough equipment that at least one is always available and in perfect running order. Money allows you to have professional personal trainers. Lack of money means you have to work for a living and not spend all the time you want in pursuit of your athleticism. Not to mention money will pay for you to go to the best college for your particular sport. If you can't afford to go to the right places, chances are you may never be noticed. (while there are scholarships for sports, not all of them are full scholarships, and there are far fewer scholarships than there are kids with raw talent.)
tl;dr : It takes money to make money... the best predictor of future wealth is existing wealth.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 04 2018, @02:44AM
If you really want to see this in action, look at the personal finances of olympic athletes. Those in an expensive sport like dressage or pentathlon invariably come from a wealthy background.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday March 04 2018, @03:22AM (7 children)
People like Uzzard will never admit this, because their entire worldview is based around it not being the case. Don't even waste your time replying to him, except with things like "have fun in Hell." We are not dealing with a rational human being here.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday March 04 2018, @05:28PM (6 children)
You really should look up the word rational. I think you're going to be disappointed that it does not mean making decisions based entirely on your feelz.
As for the comment you were replying to? tl;dr
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 05 2018, @07:53PM (5 children)
Ye gods, I had no idea they made a halogen bulb big enough to handle that kind of projection.
Here's a hint, carrion-breath: "taxation is theft!" is a "feelz" statement, not a "realz" statement. You can't back it up with much of anything, and if we dig deep enough, we will uncover the root of it, which is you sitting on a small pile of assets like the world's ugliest, rattiest mini-dragon and snarling at people to keep away.
And your "tl;dr" is bullshit; what you really mean is "there's a lot in here i can't reply to so i'm just not going to even read it, and dismiss it out of hand, as if that somehow makes it wrong."
Has it ever once in your miserable life occurred to you that money was made for humans, not humans for money? That the free market is not a God?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 05 2018, @09:19PM
"which is you sitting on a small pile of assets like the world's ugliest, rattiest mini-dragon and snarling at people to keep away."
Ha!! That is the best description of libertards I have yet seen, thank you.
PS: not all libertarians are tards, but the venn diagram is a bit disturbing.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday March 06 2018, @01:58AM (3 children)
No, I really didn't read it. I almost never read wall-o-text comments. It's rarely worth arguing with my ADHD over.
As for the rest, blah blah and blah. Learn a new tune. We've had those arguments before and you always lose because I can explain precisely why I believe something without resorting to an argument made entirely of feelz; and you can't.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday March 06 2018, @04:52AM (2 children)
More projection. Do you really think you're fooling anyone? Just how much contempt do you hold your userbase in? Plenty of people have called you out on your bullshit in the last couple of threads dealing with money topics.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday March 06 2018, @12:13PM (1 child)
Hold them in contempt? I'm trying to educate them. If they're on this site, they should be smart enough to throw off the propaganda they've been fed that's holding them back and see the truth. You know, the truth that nobody is keeping them down and all they have to do to get ahead is contribute something that people have a genuine and significant desire/need for and charge for it.
And you should know better than anyone that having someone disagree with you does not make you wrong. Not being able to counter a rational argument might but consensus is not truth.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday March 06 2018, @08:48PM
So they should throw off what you call propaganda and replace it with your specific brand of propaganda? Because, Uzzard, I've news for you: you are playing the useful idiot for the sociopathic megacorps and their billionaire CEOs.
Step back and see what it is you're saying: "Well, I have enough and did it my way, and no one helped me [this is utter bullshit by the way], so therefore a) anyone not succeeding has only themselves to blame, b) I am completely morally clean as to how I got this far, and c) everything is just fine with how the US economy works, except that too much is done to help people on my dime."
Congratulations, Uzzard, you restated "fuck you, got mine" a different way. You care about no one and nothing but yourself, and because you don't even half understand the circumstances that allowed you to work hard and make the money you did, by default you throw everyone else under the bus, thus allowing and even supporting the continued degradation and slow democide of the working poor and the disappearance of the middle class.
I can't comprehend this kind of selfishness. How do you live with yourself?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:50PM (1 child)
Regarding going to college:
You could do it the way I did - work full-time during the day, go to class at night, reserve the weekends for projects/reading/homework. It makes for some long days, but it's doable. And yes, I did it while supporting a family.
It's even easier now with the availability of online classes. You can even graduate with no debt.
Cue the excuses!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 04 2018, @06:19PM
Congratulations, you graduated college with zero debt.
You mentioned you worked full time to pay for college, but you very conveniently neglected to mention that you never got a better job with the college degree you earned. You deceptively neglected to mention that your college degree failed to benefit you in any way, and that you wasted money on college which you could have saved by simply refraining from going to college.
You deceitfully neglect to mention that a college degree is ultimately a negative return on investment, because there is no such thing as economic opportunity for college graduate.
Again, congratulations, for reducing your wealth by falling for the college scam. You must be so very proud of your foolishness.