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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."

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by YeaWhatevs on Sunday March 04 2018, @03:49AM (5 children)

    by YeaWhatevs (5623) on Sunday March 04 2018, @03:49AM (#647470)

    Mmmmm, no. People with large inheritances are lucky, unless somehow you can show there is skill involved with choosing rich parents. They to start out with so much money that even relatively mediocre choices result still add up to a whole lot better returns in absolute terms compared to a poor person making better choices.

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  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday March 04 2018, @05:16PM (4 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Sunday March 04 2018, @05:16PM (#647663) Homepage Journal

    Says the person who's never tried it. Care to continue your armchair quarterbacking? It really is cracking me up.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 05 2018, @05:03PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 05 2018, @05:03PM (#648040)

      Back atcha fuckface

      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday March 05 2018, @05:38PM (2 children)

        by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Monday March 05 2018, @05:38PM (#648058) Homepage Journal

        You really went for the old "I'm rubber, you're glue" response? Jesus, man... Learn to troll.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 05 2018, @08:56PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 05 2018, @08:56PM (#648165)

          It is funny how you think I was trolling, but I was not surprised since you fail basic language comprehension as repeatedly demonstrated throughout this thread. Your brain has a [personal beliefs] override that short circuits your critical thinking skills.