Luck/Skill

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The dilemma of luck vs skill is something I've been thinking about since a long, long time. Determining whether someone's "success" can be attributed to luck, skill, or both, is a tricky question with a tricky answer.

As it often goes in life, I see people often adhering to one of the two polarized camps: either it's all luck, or all skill. A whole lot of people (including us, cynical Europeans) think that the richest got there just by pure chance. Another significant group, mostly Americans, believe that it's all about hard work and building up skill.

As it is with most things, reality is a grey mix of these two. Skill is a very powerful force, especially when we invest heavily into it. Yet, luck may be the single factor that determines if we're able to achieve the skill in the first place.

A great example comes in the world of Poker. A game I do not know how to play, but often fascinated by its mechanics and psychology. See, while skill, both psychological and purely mathematical is very important in the game. Understanding the other players and the card they can possibly have is crucial. But, ultimately, chance has a significant say in who wins and who doesn't. So, you can do all the right things strategically and still loose. Now, that must be frustrating!

We cannot disregard luck and the privileges that come alongside it; even the privilege of being able to spend time on building up skill.

Ultimately, there's one thing (or two) we can do: work hard and don't let bad luck stop us.

Because, it will happen.