Thursday, May 17, 2012

Cultivating luck

Sociopaths are known for being charming, but they also seem to lead a charmed life.  I have had such unusual success in my profession that people often wonder what exact deal had I made with the devil and whether he is still looking for business partners.  It's not that I am not qualified, I am (but that is another story heavily influenced by luck).  It's more that my profession is one of those that is heavily influenced by luck.  I happened to have had a truly unique idea and was lucky enough to have been able to act upon it.  I do acknowledge that it was a lucky break, but there were also things I did to make my own luck.  Similarly, this was an interesting article in the Telegraph from psychologist Richard Wiseman about some of his research on what distinguishes the lucky from the less fortunate:


Take the case of chance opportunities. Lucky people consistently encounter such opportunities, whereas unlucky people do not. I carried out a simple experiment to discover whether this was due to differences in their ability to spot such opportunities.

I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked them to look through it and tell me how many photographs were inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs, whereas the lucky people took just seconds. Why? Because the second page of the newspaper contained the message: "Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper." This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than 2in high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.
***

Personality tests revealed that unlucky people are generally much more tense than lucky people, and research has shown that anxiety disrupts people's ability to notice the unexpected. In one experiment, people were asked to watch a moving dot in the centre of a computer screen. Without warning, large dots would occasionally be flashed at the edges of the screen. Nearly all participants noticed these large dots.

The experiment was then repeated with a second group of people, who were offered a large financial reward for accurately watching the centre dot, creating more anxiety. They became focused on the centre dot and more than a third of them missed the large dots when they appeared on the screen. The harder they looked, the less they saw.

And so it is with luck - unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and as a result miss other types of jobs. Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for.

My research revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.



He then talks about how he wondered if those principles could be learned by the unlucky:

One month later, the volunteers returned and described what had happened. The results were dramatic: 80 per cent of people were now happier, more satisfied with their lives and, perhaps most important of all, luckier. While lucky people became luckier, the unlucky had become lucky. 

Other "lucky" traits that seem particularly prevalent in the sociopath community: mixing up routine and remaining optimistic.  And it wasn't explicitly stated, but I think being willing to take risks often makes someone seem lucky.  It's like the pickup artist community -- if you play enough numbers, you're bound to have one pay out.

101 comments:

  1. Is this where I get excite for being first?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you either play the game or you don't

      Delete
  2. nOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
    2nd :-(

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  3. I agree with the idea that lucky people tend to cling less strictly to their expectations, and are more flexible in their concepts of what life should be, a business should be, a partner should be, etc., they live in a complex environment and they make the best of it, they don’t let themselves be taken aback by unpredictability. But I see it as oversimplifying to say that risk taking is a correlate of luck. Lucky people are realistic about luck; they won’t bet if their chances of success are less than 50% because they have learnt that even with a 60% you better prepare yourself for failure.

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  4. Risk taking is also something you learn, but only moderate risk takers get the opportunity to learn; radical ones are out of the game too early to learn anything.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Luck is self made. In the long run risk is averaged out.
    If you believe in luck than you are just fate's bitch and a feeble minded person. One of the main factors in the development of civilization was the understanding of risk management. By measuring risk we can take the future from the gods and become gods our selves.

    I follow this equation for all my decision. Chances of ruin = [(Q/P)^a-(Q/P)^c]/[(Q/P)^a-1] C = the initial amount, P= chances of winning 1 $ (or any unit such as bitches), Q=chances of losing or 1-P, A is the desired amount.

    This is why its stupid to have girl friend, or marriage. Given the divorce rate you should have around 5 wives. It can also be used to calculate how much you can get out of your farms and how many farms you should have. Also why I always have more than one lives at a time.

    You don't need any of this because you probably do it intuitively. The very laws of nature favor sociopaths, an other reason we are more evolved.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The question is but what have you evolved in to. At
      some point there may be a need to do some character
      building. Your creator (God) will demand it?

      Delete
    2. Depends on what do you mean by God.

      If you mean someone who created the world. I see no evidence of that and if there is a creator why should i care about him/her.

      If you mean some higher power. For me there is no higher power than my will.

      If you mean someone to you are to hold accountable. I am only accountable to my self.

      If you mean the source of morality. I am my source of morality.

      If you mean a personal experience that you have had. I have not had it and probably don't want to.

      If you mean an idealized version of your self. I am that I am. I am my own god.

      If there is a god. I would love to kill him and take his throne.

      Delete
    3. Satan already tried that, Wet.

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    4. There's no reason to debate ignorant people with unsupportable claims about magical gods whose premises are shown false by ample evidence. They should be ridiculed, not debated.

      Delete
    5. ^That's why I'm not going to debate you

      Delete
  6. it’s useful to remember that luck has no favourites. Ask Jamie Dimon, if you want to check that.

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    Replies
    1. I am curious why the media and white house love Jamie Dimon so much. He reminds me of James Tagart.

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    2. It's risky, to compare fiction with reality

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    3. One billion dollars look very different in fiction. And it feels different, too.

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    4. Reality is too complex and useless sometimes. I prefer to use models because they are simpler and more useful

      Delete
  7. I found a quote that explains "Touching the Ground" in a few words, as brilliant minds seem able to do.

    "As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live"

    Goethe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, since you act as a healer here, I got one very annoying problem and I would like to get your help. I am a little bit busy right now, but I'll right it later!

      Delete
    2. Of course, Mee. My pleasure.

      I was coming back to write about intimacy. We all want it . Most of us crave it. However,it will be impossible to get without a discrete sense of self. With a PD, your sense of self is not discrete. It is morphed and melded onto something. That something is usually the distorted ideas that were inculcated by mentally/emotionally ill people, in your childhood. You are wedded to these distortions in an inextricable way. HOW to break that tie is the problem?

      Delete
    3. Okay, here I go, my biggest problem at the moment is yawning. Well it is fun to yawn when someone is screaming at me or sth like that, but I yawn many times every day and I can't control it :( . I don't know when or how this constant yawning started, but sometimes it really pisses me of. Maybe I am lacking oxygen or something? :/

      P.S. I don't feel depressed or sad.

      Delete
    4. Bored? Maybe you feel like something and you don't dare do it

      Delete
    5. Mee you do not need to heal, you need get a pair of those gravity boots and hang upside down drink more water execise, get out more. I am yawning right now and i just got up. This morning I do not feel sad or depressed. But I understand. When people get angry at me and scream , I don't yawn. My eyes get wide and I start to look at them like a creature, not a human. Then I go away to analyse them and to press their buttons in my head. From time to time I do a practicum of these thoughts just to see if my thoughts were correct. I find this activity immensely pleasurable. I find people are consistent and I like to see the patterns in each person. THis activity keeps me less bored with them.

      Delete
    6. http://www.calmclinic.com/anxiety/signs/yawning

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    7. Yawning? lol
      How could I help with that?

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    8. I wonder if you are unable to be happy with people? Maybe if you could be happy for someone you wouldn't need to mess around with them to have fun

      Delete
  8. i'm verry good at makeing me look good, good luck, good fortune, good life makes lots of people envious
    2 weeks ago a colleague tells me he's merried 17years if he had to do it over again he would do it like me stay single f..."m and kick'm out
    i lol'd hard (overdid it a bit again)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Theme Song for the Old Regulars Who are Now New Regulars

    ReplyDelete
  10. Replies
    1. I don't pity myself and I don't listen to country music...so sorry, I didn't actually listen to it

      Delete
    2. I raise you one ^^^^

      Delete
    3. What does ^^ mean?
      I don't have the attention span to play childish games. Especially with anons. Why don't we go all in, then? And let's make it strip poker. Starting with your name ;)

      Delete
    4. You first^^ greenie

      Delete
    5. Green eyes is nastycheeks.

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    6. Makes sense lol

      Delete
    7. Shut up, Monica

      Delete
    8. nastycheeks/sweetcheeks is uber revolting in either guise.

      Delete
    9. First: who the hell is nasty/sweetcheeks?
      Second: Monica, you really need to grow up. You tried your little 'multiple personalities under the guise of anonymous' game before. It was pathetic then, now it's getting sort of entertaining. Do go on, dear.

      Delete
    10. WHO are you greenie?

      Delete
    11. nastycheeks is a nasty skank.

      Delete
    12. Let's play strip poker. You first, greenie.

      Delete
    13. I'm a mystery wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a beautiful lambskin coat.
      I'd love to, you sound like such a charmer, but I don't play games with anons. Come on, don't be shy...

      Delete
    14. Hmmmmm you cat. You first, Baby.

      Delete
    15. from me............................................................

      Delete
    16. Urggh That dead personna is Raven. Blehhhhh

      Delete
    17. I melt for you and only you, 'Baby' ;)
      But as I said, I don't play games with spineless anons.

      Delete
    18. Raven's fucking boring persona comes through even in her sock puppets. I need a sexy person. I am outta here. B-Y-E.

      Delete
    19. The link doesn't work.

      Also, enough Monica, you're embarrassing yourself. Are you going to start your unbelievably clever 'Raven sux' insults next.

      Delete
    20. Raven, you are SO fucking boring. Yuck, it is not even fun to spar with you.

      Delete
    21. I thought it might be an interesting person but it is dull old Raven in one of her many guises. *SIGH*
      Oh well. Good Night, ugly crack whore bitch.

      Delete
    22. Wow, that has to be the funniest way to slink away with tail between legs as I've seen in a while.
      Hate to break it to you darling, but calling me Raven is actually a wonderful compliment. So thank you.
      You've probably just insulted her, though.

      Delete
    23. Hmmm You got nothing of interest to you, whoever the fuck you are.

      Delete
    24. I hate it when I talk to someone and it turns out to be Raven. It is like a Christmas present turns out to be a stone.

      Delete
    25. Considering you are still too cowardly to even put your name up, you sure are big on trying to insult me. Also, if you honestly think your lame attempts are anything but a chuckle for me, you're deluding yourself into the bargain.
      So come on, tell me your name, you model of wit, fascination and sophistication.

      Delete
    26. Once again...I am not Raven. I do, however, admire her immensely. For her strength if nothing else.

      Delete
    27. It's monica for reals, mate. She always goes back to it with the raven bit. I have never seen someone so tormented by one person.

      Delete
    28. Just as I thought. It's easier for Monica to shift all the blame on Raven. After all, then she can delude herself further by saying she's nothing but a sweet little lamb, trying oh so hard to heal and be one with the universe...nothing is ever her fault, is it?

      Delete
  11. Sometimes luck can be a curse, in fact luck is strange. It has got very little to do with lucky people. We don't see them really, we separate them from themselves and put them in our own album.

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  12. The lucky people we know become quickly our private myths.

    ReplyDelete
  13. They say luck is preperation meeting opportunity. It is true. If you are always looking for opportunities you will always be lucky.

    People who are unlucky are generally unhappy people with negative attitudes. They are never looking for opportunities because the first wave that hit them years ago took them out of the game. Instead of seeing a negative experience as an opporunity to grow they succumbed to self doubt and let it bury them. They get caught in a ditch of self doubt letting their next negative experiences become the proof of their general misfortune. They condition themselves to defeat, so intent on seeing ways they can fail that they miss all the opportunities that are there to succeed.

    Myself I can't accept losing anything until it's final. Even then I'm looking for a reversal. I've beat a lot of cases on technicalities, and even when I had to do a stretch in prison I ended up only doing 3 years when I was facing 23.

    I caught a charge inside during that 3 for having a weapon and I spent all my time in the hole reading administrative rules, procedures, and regualtions for the prison guards. As it turned out I found out they were supposed to search our cells before putting us in, which they did. They were also supposed to log it in a log book after. I watched them the next few times they put someone in the hole and they would search the cell and then go back to watching the tele without logging it. I asked my attorney to get the log book. He called the prison and asked them for a copy of the log book, and they said they lost it. He told me we couldn't pursue that avenue. I ignored him and got a court order for the log book myself. When they couldn't produce it the prosecution dropped the case, which was going to be another 3 years added on my sentence. I walked free three months later.

    That was 8 years ago. I haven't been back since and I've been cashing in. I rose to the top of a company and made a ton of money till the economy collapsed. I went back to being a criminal and even with the downtime I had from the game I surpassed all my friends still involved until I was the last man standing.

    When I first came to sociopathworld I made about 50k a year. Now a few years later I'm making 250k a year. It's not luck. It's just finding opportunity wherever you can.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you deserve five wives.

      Delete
    2. His wife is so bad that she counts as ten.

      Delete
    3. Hire me then. I'm a sociopath with narc parents that abused me. Help a fellow path out...will ya ? Or at least a loan!

      Delete

    4. His wife is so bad that she counts as ten


      You are just mad because she put you down so badly on here that you had to hide your name the next time you commented.

      Delete
    5. You can talk until you are blue in the face.

      Delete
    6. Go stick a thorough bred up your ass.

      Delete
  14. Married versus single


    A hermit life style is not for everybody. Smart people are those who managed to marry what they needed as opposed to what they wanted.

    Accordingly, sociopaths should be in a good position to secure the right marriage and keep it as long as it is beneficial, and leave the lady to the lovefraud.

    Marriage, unless a woman is completely focused on what she wins and manages to do less in return, is almost always against a woman's best interests.

    It's a good idea to secure goodies early on for a woman since her worth goes down disproportionately as she ages compared to a man.

    A woman free of any guy concerns and financially independent and secure for the rest of her life by 40 years old is the woman who has a shot at a healthy senior life style..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Josita, may your life be blessed with a bevy of independent, borderline girlfriends.

      Delete
  15. Loaded dice are an asset if you want to try your luck, but if you (most likely) can’t use them, you should be sure you are trying your luck, not bumping against your limits. If you go out there where good chances are, you must change your ideas and your feelings about yourself! Good chances have a habit of looking very different from what you expect. Your luck could become the end of you if you are not ready to accept its verdict.

    ReplyDelete

  16. Loaded dice are an asset if you want to try your luck, but if you (most likely) can’t use them, you should be sure you are trying your luck, not bumping against your limits.

    It's hard to bump against your limits when you don't have any. There's always more opportunities out there and there's always more trouble you can cause. When my brother in law was teaching me how to dirtbike he told me if I get into trouble just hit the gas even more and hold on. That's how life is.

    ReplyDelete
  17. No limits? just the sky, then, and the stars above? is that a feeling, a project, a wish or a vision?

    ReplyDelete
  18. do sociopaths envy some people on their looks or are they always happy with themselves?

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  19. Luck is a myth, haphazard, a curse. But at the end of the day they are the same.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Luck is a myth, haphazard, a curse. But at the end of the day they are the same.

    ReplyDelete
  21. do sociopaths envy some people on their looks or are they always happy with themselves?

    ReplyDelete
  22. do sociopaths envy some people on their looks or are they always happy with themselves?

    ReplyDelete

  23. No limits? just the sky, then, and the stars above? is that a feeling, a project, a wish or a vision

    That's a reality. The only limits in life are the ones people create for themselves.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That reality is more brilliant than most people's fantasy.

      Delete
  24. Luck is the kind of lover that will ask you to close your eyes before taking your hand.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Luck is what happends when your eyes are open, friend. It's not random. It's seeing the shortcuts you can take and the pawns that you can move that most people are blind to.

    ReplyDelete
  26. He had white Horses
    And ladies by the score
    All dressed in satin
    And waiting by the door

    Ooooh, what a lucky man he was

    ReplyDelete
  27. He went to fight wars
    For his country and his king
    Of his honor and his glory
    The people would sing

    Ooooh, what a lucky man he was

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. do sociopaths envy some people on their looks or are they always happy with themselves?

      cant any of you bitches answer my question

      Delete

    2. do sociopaths envy some people on their looks or are they always happy with themselves?

      Why? How tore up looking are you?

      Delete
    3. As tore up as what you are fucking.

      Delete
    4. Why? How tore up looking are you?

      nope time to answer questions instead of answerring them by questions

      Delete
    5. No, they don't.

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    6. Sociopaths don't envy people, but they can admire them if they have something worth admiring or remind themselves (sociopaths). Now could you answer why do you care?

      Delete
  28. they envy people on their looks *sigh*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. they envy people on their looks, money, home, car and
      penis size.

      Delete
  29. If you don't think luck is random, then you think luck is destiny.

    ReplyDelete
  30. http://www.huna.org/html/secretluck.html

    ReplyDelete

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