Friday, April 18, 2008

And the winner is …

When Richard Wiseman first announced that he was researching the question of whether some people are lucky while others are just unlucky I looked forward to seeing the results

I was disappointed in a way. I had not realised that the question would be so broadly focused on happy (& successful) lives. I already knew that making your own luck is what makes the difference

Something which came as a bit of a surprise when I first realised it, we were so used to the idea that people were not really clever, just lucky in exams. Not realy worth a higher salary as a reward for hard work & taking responsibility, just lucky in their family connections

I had been expecting a narrower focus on those areas where one would not expect the lucky recipient to be able to influence the outcome. Like raffles & lotteries

Is there any evidence to support the widely held popular view that some people never win prizes?