hyporational comments on Luck II: Expecting White Swans - Less Wrong

6 Post author: fowlertm 15 December 2013 05:40PM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (86)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: ialdabaoth 15 December 2013 06:49:04PM *  10 points [-]

sub-principle one: lucky people maintain a network of contacts with other people.

I.e.: be Extroverted, not Introverted.

sub-principle two: lucky people are more relaxed and less neurotic than unlucky people

I.e.: Be Stable, not Neurotic.

sub-principle three: lucky people have a strong drive towards novelty, and strive to introduce variety into their routines.

I.e.: Be Open to Experience, not Closed.

sub-principle two: lucky people attempt to achieve their goals and persist through difficulty.

I.e.: Be Conscientious, not Haphazard.

sub-principle one: lucky people see the silver lining in bad situations.

I.e.: Be Positive, not Depressive.

... reading through most of this, it seems like the trick is to not be Neurotic, not be Depressive, not be Introverted, and to have high Openness and Conscientiousness. By my understanding, these aren't really traits you can just "decide" to improve, and people who do not naturally possess these traits tend to experience a pretty hefty willpower toll forcing their behavior.

Comment author: hyporational 16 December 2013 06:30:58AM *  3 points [-]

Most of these traits can be situation dependent and temporary. People easily interpret situational factors as permanent character traits or the other way around.

Extroverted, not Introverted.

Try spending time with people who have interesting things to say. Don't interpret boredom as introversion.

Be Stable, not Neurotic.

Could be just about whether you're on a winning or a losing streak.

Open to Experience, not Closed.

People can offer you all kinds of silly experiences like skydiving, then complain if you don't comply. Be careful not to interpret your preferences as openness to experience

Be Conscientious, not Haphazard.

Try performing work that actually interests you.

Positive, not Depressive.

Optimize your situation to be less depressive.