from Hacker News

Stop calling it skill. It’s really just luck.

by ebahnx on 7/3/14, 9:19 PM with 2 comments

• by jwgur on 7/4/14, 2:06 AM

  A lot of success is due to luck, but I think there is something to be said for putting yourself in a position to get lucky.

  Sure, someone in a third world country might not have the choice to put themselves in such a position, but certainly lots of people in the United States have a choice to put themselves in a position to (or learn the skills that are necessarily antecedent to) get lucky. Unless you would say that all positions are equally lucky and that no choice you make in your position matters with respect to luck?

• by Im_Talking on 7/3/14, 11:11 PM

  And because it's luck, it shouldn't even be thought about. In fact, the word 'luck' shouldn't be used. A more correct term would be 'probability'. There will be a certain number of people who will die by a falling brick or lightning each year. It could be you... probably not.

  But it's something that brain cycles shouldn't be wasted on. We get out of bed each morning without knowing that a bad thing will happen that day. We should only think about the things that we can control.