Is Success Luck or Hard Work?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2020
- In a competitive world, tiny advantages can make all the difference. Get 10% off Snatoms with code 'giveluck' in the US: ve42.co/USA or International: snatoms.com
If you would like to receive Snatoms, submit the form here: ve42.co/getluck
Snatoms are also available on Amazon Prime in the US but with no discount code: ve42.co/Asnatoms
Huge thanks to Gene and Sam from Potato Jet for filming with me: ve42.co/potatojet
This video was inspired by and draws examples from the book "Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy" by Robert H. Frank
Special thanks to Patreon supporters (and to everyone who commented on an earlier version of this video):
Marc Forand, Robert Dickerson, Christian Stauffer, LoadTooSlow, Vincent, Lyvann Ferrusca, DALE HORNE, Alfred Wallace, Kevin Beavers, Arjun Chakroborty, Joar Wandborg, Clayton Greenwell, Michael Krugman, Ron Neal, Donal Botkin
Animations by Ivy Tello
my mom stopped schooling at 8 years old, while my dad stopped when he was 15,both due to poverty. Statistically the cycle of poverty would continue, but a University opened up close to our home, and my father worked there as a gardener, there he borrowed books for me and opened up my interest in education and its importance. Now I'm working there as an academic faculty member, and people around would always ask how a barely educated gardener raise up an academician. Looking back, if we were just a few kilometres away from the uni, our lives could drastically altered, among other factors that are too long to explain. Today I try my best to help others who weren't so lucky.
This needs way more likes!!
@@cortexauth4094 You are doing the work, so you can take advantage of the luck when it comes.
More power to you.
wishing you the best Aan Azwan
bless you good guy
Woahh Man.. You should get pinned.
Well I thought it was 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will. 5% pleasure, 50% pain and a 100% reason to remember the name.
You win.
Underrated comment
lmao
This guy gets it.
Turns volume knob to 11/10 for the whole album as it calls out American WWII confinement camps for Japanese Americans....
😂😂😂
I am 76 years old, and long time ago, I had realized that a big chunk of my success was because I happened to be in the right place at the right time by sheer chance. A lot of people helped me along the way, and I am passing that on. Great video post, and best of LUCK.
I taught myself piano and other instruments, worked really hard doing local shows in my town but never made it, lol. I always thought maybe I just didn’t have a lot of luck since I’m from a little go no where town outside of a bigger town. We don’t have a lot of opportunities unless you move. Thank you for sharing your story of luck!
As someone who is a risk management profession. I agree uncertainty is a thing. But you can manage these uncertainty
@@leetheleo9602 Absolutely. Among equally capable people, luck is definitely a factor.
both hard work and luck yes
Absolutely. I got my new Job because I was bored😂
Basically:
Luck counts, but don't count on it.
The main point is that we are oblivious to how much luck affects our success
Well said!
literally could not have put that in any better words
I think skillcapped said something about Luck in League. They said those who try to get lucky are more likely to get lucky than others. (In prettier words).
Meaning do count in luck, when the odds of getting lucky seem reasonable.
That doesn't mean you should play the lottery, because it's very unlikely to get lucky there(hence I don't play it). Also it helps picking places tp get lucky where you don't lose anything If it fails but a Bit of time you had No better use for.
A great example of this is almost every TH-camr. They started creating stuff, were unsuccessful for a long time (sometimes even over 10 years) and then they got some kind of Point where they got lucky and got popular. I know I could achieve anything I wanted to, the hardest thing is figuring out what that is.
And hard work gives a sense of entitlement
reminds me of a meme I once saw: "As a hiring manager, when I get a stack of resume's I immediately throw half of them out. I don't employ unlucky people."
🤣
LMBO!!
Maybe they are lucky to not work for this company, and found a better job after.
Hahaha
ALL THINGS HAPPEN TOGETHER FOR GOOD
This video should be watched by everyone periodically as a reminder that no success is by hard work alone, you also need luck.
Wisdom and prudence and many other things are probably more important than luck. Fools often squander their good luck even if they are hard working
@@philippenight2421wisdom comes as a factor of inspiration. You cannot derive wisdom from a vacuum, it must be learned in an environment. How skewed that environment is towards the outcome of wisdom, is your factor of luck. True wisdom is recognizing the facets of life that are beyond your control but are part of your influence.
but then get youtube recommendation about ' your perception about luck is wrong'
In his experiment, if you were given a skill score of 99, your chances of being in the top 11 were 0%. I repeat, the top applicants *all* had skill scores of 100. So yes, luck plays a role when everyone, including you, is perfect everywhere else. But that isn't really actually saying anything profound.
@@falcon7960where are the details to his experiment available? That would be interesting to see.
Success depends on the actions or steps you take to achieve it. Building wealth involves developing good habits like regularly putting money away in intervals for solid investments. Financial management is a crucial topic that most tend to shy away from, and ends up haunting them in the near future.., I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life!!
Starting early is simply the best way of getting ahead to build wealth , investing remains a priority . I learnt from my last year's experience , I am able to build a suitable life beause I invested early ahead this time .
The rich Invest in alternative income streams that are independent of the government should be the top priority for everyone right now. especially given the global economic crisis we are currently experiencing. Stocks, gold, silver, and virtual currencies are still attractive investments at the moment...
I thought about investing in the real estate market, I heard that people make millions , but I lack good knowledge and a strategy to outperform the market and generate good yields. I have $460,000 but it's hard to bite the bullet and do it. Money is hard to come by
The best course of action if you lack market knowledge is to ask a consultant or investing coach for guidance or assistance. Speaking with a consultant helped me stay afloat in the market and grow my port-folio to about 65% since January, even though I know it sounds obvious or generic. I believe that is the most effective way to enter the business at the moment.
Fantastic! Can you share more details?
Man bringing up this topic alone is a feat, but explaining it to this level of straightforwardness, detail, & clarity is just wow
I agree. It is great that he explained it with emphasis and clarity. Which part do you most agree on?
@@thenewcedric all of it was great, what i liked is that the video matched my own personal view or the Tao te Ching's view that each of us has their life plan & what we do conributes to it but doesnt control it, similar to the saying that a river has its own course & what we do can affect it to some extent but cant change the course of the river, so what this guy calls 'luck' in this video i interpreted it as 'life plan'
@@samermazahreh
It's rather the other way around.
We control it to a very meaningful degree, but luck contributes to the outcome. The more exceptional the outcome the larger the contribution, in general at least.
This video downplays how important hard work and competence are. If you're smart and hard working there's is an exponentially higher chance that you will succeed in something (maybe not the exact thing that you are striving for but something) then if you're not hard working and incompetent.
@@blaynestaleypro “If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.”
― George Monbiot
There is a saying in Bangladesh that, "if it is the only hard work that pays off, then the farmers(/labors) would have been millionaires."
bro that's not bangladeshi...these are famous words of greatest indian rapper carryminati "Mehnat to ghada bhi karta hai...isstar bana de stage pe nachwa de?"
@@OhhYasssh carry is more famous for his vulgar word in his roasting videos than rapping to be exact :3
@@SadmimHossain carry tera baap ha
@@OhhYasssh
You do not need to show your level in front of everyone on earth. You could just behave like a normal person. But there's a Bengali saying, "ব্যবহারে বংশের পরিচয়।" (Manners make the man)
Peace
@@OhhYasssh bruh why you getting triggered
This video will one day help me teach my son/daughter the importance of gratitude, humbling and generosity. Thank you for that!
Bro just donated 10 euro and got less then 50 likes after 1 month ☠️
@@nuruzzamankhan1610I think his goal was to show gratitude not get likes 😅
@@nuruzzamankhan1610 your comment is ironic given the content of this video
@@nuruzzamankhan1610 unlucky I guess. And the author also has seen this dono, but wanted to point out the importance of luck and didn't like.
My Grandfather was once the head of all the passports in the United States. From what those who knew him before he retired would tell me, including my mother, he was an incredibly hard worker. He had a work ethic where he would always be productive by 6am, the time he used to leave for work. He was incredibly good at his job as well. But when you ask him, he would tell you a different story. He often contributes his success to luck. He is incredibly grateful for his parents and his bosses who put him ahead in life, never mentioning the work that he had to put in to get to where he was. This video reminded me of him, and I felt like I should share the story.
Thanks for sharing, very inspiring. My grandpa (no more now due to covid) was an incredibly hard working man. When he retired, the place he used to work at called him back due to his grinding work ethic and he accepted that offer and worked for 12 more years after he retired.
Your videos are one of my favorites series of all!! I learn so much not just about the actual topics in discussion, that are already súper interesting, but about english too. My first language is spanish and I'm trying to learn English to been able to learn more things and through your videos I have been making it a lot. Thank you.
My father liked to say “everything in life is decided by luck, but accepting that fact is bad luck.”
Your father is extremely wise man 👍🏿
Luck=preparation (personal growth)+ attitude (belief/mindset) + opportunity (a good thing coming your way) + action (doing something about it)
-Dan Hardy
Yup. Only need to succeed once and all the failures simply won't count anymore.
Interesting saying I had not heard of. "Luck" means we don't understand the causal connections. Surely we are intended not to accept what is without dignity or value.
@@larrysherk it’s just from the book compound effect by Darren Hardy. They ask Richard Branson what he says luck is. He says everyone born healthy in a a free world is lucky. Luck is all around us, but some see it and act on it and others don’t. Just considering yourself lucky, is even part of it. Anyways then the compound effect takes it a bit further. I read a lot of self improvement type books for work.
My mother, who was a very religious person, used to say “Pray as if it’s all up to God. Work as if it’s all up to you.”
Thats a very good quote
Waw, that's amazing, in Islam, our prophet said a similar thing for us to follow.
Your mom may rest in peace 🙏
Yep, that's the point of praying, we pray to the god to give us the best things possible, and then we should try our best to make the things come true, after that It's up to the god what will happen next
Wooww🤯
Success has nothing to do with money though. That's a Jewish belief, not a Christian one.
I'm in a period of my life where... you have no idea how much i needed to see and hear what you just said in this video, Thank you, Thank you so much !
its been almost 2 years by now since i first came across this video and i always come back to it. what a great message.
You're a good Dad Derek. I'm really enjoying your recent videos.
Love your work!
So Destin, how exactly did luck play into you meeting your kids' mother?
Both of you guys are awesome!
I like that you can be complimentary about Derek, Destin, even after he said Turbulent Flow > Laminar Flow... :D
Well this is just heart-warming.
When a science channel is more motivating than most motivation channels.
You dont need a motivation, you just need a click. But i get what you are saying 👍
This video, and the experiment he did, is missing a HUGELY important characteristic of luck that scientists would normally account for.
Consider I'm interviewing for jobs. For one interview, I might hit all the lights red, making me a few minutes late, or not. That's luck. It might turn out that some system the employer users is the same brand I already have experience with, or not. By luck. I might catch the interviewer in a good mood, or not. When they ask a logic/brainteaser question it might be one I've heard before, or not. If I make a joke with someone in the elevator, that might turn out to be the interviewer, or not. They might share my sense of humor, or not. There are a dozen or more different "luck" factors for a single interview. Almost certainly, I'll hit some and miss some.
Of course, I might interview for several different jobs. On the first I get get 6/12 lucky, maybe 7/12 on the second job, and 5/12 on the third.
Over the course of a full day there might be a 100 different luck things. The person I hold the door for might turn out to matter in some way. I might happen to see an ad that turns out to be useful, whatever. With near certainty, I'll land some good and some bad, even over the course of a day. Over the course of a LIFETIME - hundreds of thousands of interactions, nobody is going to get lucky every single time, or unlucky 10,000 times in a row.
His experiment calculated ONE random value for luck. But that's not how luck works in our lives. A better simulation would be to randomly assign 10,000 random values for lucky/unlucky (0 or 1) over the course of 10,000 different things, then sum those up. If you do that for 10,000 things that can happen, 10,000 coin flips, , you find that almost everyone gets a total luck score pretty darn close 5,000.
@@senseisecurityschool9337 You are born in a desert. Your family and friends have never seen people or places outside your local area. Get 1 million dollars.
You would say it is not fair to compare our standards to ones less developed... why?
@@laukcube Wow dude. Many of the richest people in the WORLD were born in the Sahara desert. People like Mohamed al-Fayed (multi-billionaire) and his son Dodi Fayed, princess Diana's boyfriend. Or Haim Saban. You really think being born in the Sahara (aka being Arab) means you can't succeed in life? So racist!
Ps - other people who would match that description, people born in a desert to families who weren't jet setters,, would be this dude named Jesus, and another dude named Moses. Lol. You literally described the person who had had the MOST impact on the world in all of human history.
So much for your"people from desert nations (Arabs and Jews) are savages who can't do anything" idea. Lol
This is the most beautiful documentary I've ever watched. I've thought about this for a long time and philosophised about it thoroughly, and all you've said weighs correctly. Thanks Sir
Part of me wishes that I would have found this channel sooner... The other part of me loves the fact that I have so much content to binge! Excellent work, sir. I love your content, pace, intellect, and especially your candor. Keep up the great work!!
"you should do what you can to increase the luck of others". beautiful.
@@JaredSessi do you even know what luck is?
@@rattled4806 When preparedness meets opportunity.
@@erniellerena So if you're born to rich parents in a rich country, it could be said that you were lucky. So, then, does that mean that you were prepared for the opportunity to be born to rich parents or what? Would they stop being rich because you were not prepared to be born to rich parents? Your definition is extremely flawed.
Commi
@@rattled4806 I have family members who are very rich but are not lucky. My 2nd cousins leech off my great aunt. One is a drug addict who beat her. Both his sons are dead. BOCES sons are dead. one got stabbed multiple times and downtown LA about 3 years ago and the other one just died six months ago from a heroin overdose at her house. he died on the porch because his dad was too messed up to even answer the door. Then you got the other one. Morbidly obese and diabetic and they had to cut her leg off because of it. I just found out that she's asking her mom for a house with a pool. What the hell is she going to do with a house with a pool? Do they sell Lucky to you?
When I was a kid, my dad used to tell me "If you study and work hard, nothing guarantees your success. But if you don't, you guarantee your failure."
Nowadays I find myself really lucky to have a dad that taught me that so early in life hehe
Thanks a lot, man. I really appreciate all of your videos, and I'm one of those that had the luck to be watching them since when vsauce posted about the weight of a shadow ahaha
That is the greatest learning of all time. I guess I heard it in a movie, that if you try you might fail, but if you don't you definitely will.
Edit: Now I remember, it was in a movie about asking a girl for a date 😂
That is a wise advice. If I ever have kids I will use that.
I'm lucky to be a part of his TH-cam journey before that event. This guy is really awesome.
Are we long lost siblings? XD
Shame we all can't have YOUR dad... CHeck ur flex man.. esp ppl making nothing cuz i also worked hard and got nothing. Go fund some community projects, Bezos.
Dude I wish I could give this video multiple likes and I’m purely a consumer of content…but this video I will share, like, and hope you get more subs from this! One of the most humbling videos on the internet I swear! Keep up the great work. Love your videos and the work you put into them. Wish you all the success in the world. Hope people continue to expand their perspectives and minds from your content as I have ❤
I agree, soooo beautiful!
This is a very kind video. I feel like finally there is an explanation for why I am not getting success even after putting all the hard work. And this video provides an empirical evidence that there is something called as luck. Thanks a lot for making it.
I also like the argument that it is better for people to live in the delusion that their success is directly proportional to their hard work and so they should keep working hard. And in moments of despair, they should remind themselves that they failed because luck wasn't on their side
"Avoid employing unlucky people by throwing away 50% of the job applications without even reading them."
doesn't that already happen? They use certain keywords in their search program that reviews applications and automatically throws out any missing certain ones without the HR person ever seeing it. If your resume didn't have the right words, you are s*** outta luck lol.
@@SurgStriker I can't speak on what you're saying, but I think this person is referring to something else and perhaps making a bit of a joke. By throwing away 50% of job applications without reading them, you get rid of unlucky people because they were unlucky enough to be one of the random applicants that they tossed aside, if that makes any sense. Basically, if you only want to hire lucky people, then doing this method will help to ensure that you do, as lucky people won't be the ones that have their applications thrown out. This process doesn't involve reading a single word of the actual applications, so it's different from what you're talking about. I hope that makes sense.
@@shreknskrubgaming7248 i understood his comment, and i was just pointing out "we joke about it...but it actually happens IRL already". There is a large amount of luck involved in ever getting your resume read by a person because most major companies HR uses bots to screen applications and throws the majority away before a human knows they exist (granted, it's not because they are 'getting rid of unlucky applicants', it's just saving themselves work, but the end result is the same). It's just one of those things-sometimes comedians come up with jokes that are funny-until you realize that's how things actually are. Then it's just depressing
@@shreknskrubgaming7248 what if the one that get unlucky was the HR
@@SurgStriker If you make your resume slightly different each time so it matches general keywords that the job title entails. Why hire a plumber for a computer technician basically
So basically what you're saying is:
This is ten percent luck
Twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure
Fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name
Shinoda taking over
This! 🔥
Ngl u got me at the end
Hahahahah That's pretty accurate.
Yoo.. Love this song..!
Honestly sometimes I just can't believe how amazing this channel is. Your videos are incredibly interesting and well done. Thank you!
Well said. In addition, I have found that 1) I can stay very motivated with the full realization that my ability to accomplish a goal is dependent on many, many things that are completely out of my control, by having faith that I am fulfilling my life's mission, and 2) their are proven techniques to increase your luck which I have employed successfully. While many people suffer setbacks that are out of their control, life is usually long enough to overcome them, if they have a mind that is open to learning, faith in their path and utilize techniques to increase their luck. We may not all be able to achieve equal outcomes, but we can all achieve equal improvement and growth, if we're lucky!
"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness, that is life."
I really love that quote. Jean-Luc really is a gem.
@@roko2036 oh no trust me there are a lot of ways to be fucked up: family issues, accidents of all kinds, diseases and lots more
@@99fulgur I guess. I just wasn’t thinking of it in that way
@@roko2036 I found that the trend of rich and poor pretty much exist in "all" the countries.
@@TN-br9yl different countrys have lots of more opportunities than other. Like growing up in Somalia is WAY harder than growing up in America
That "How I met your mother" reference was amazing.
Yes
I laughed so hard! :'D
Great reference, now it needs a bit more scientific exploration :D
I enjoyed the whole video, but that scene made me look up and smile :)
Where is it?
A boss of mine once said "You are unique... just like everyone else."
It's a very paradoxical statement but it reminds me of the concept in this video. The world simply does not revolve around any of us.
Amazing storytelling with great visuals and insightful high-level studies. Also, phenomenal camera work at 0:59-1:04, perfectly complimented the script. Sweet stuff!
Your shout out to VSauce and how you met your wife really hit me in the feels.
same
same
same
sameeee
same
Moral of the story: if you got lucky, don't let it go to waste!
I do watch your videos Alux. I am a Aluxer
@sneaky stepdad Just a suggestion: Perhaps it would be a good idea to check in on your mental urge to childishly call people names and your lack of ability to learn new things. I'm going to take a guess and say it's a lame attempt at making yourself feel better... I'm sorry you have such a low opinion about yourself that you have to come on here and do that. Maybe if you educated yourself, you'd live a much more fulfilling life and wouldn't feel the need to troll the comments. Hope you get to feeling better. I know life is hard for many right now, especially with the current lack of good leadership. Take care.
I subscribed you again
If you let it go to waste, you weren't lucky enough to succeed in the first place. The strongest people are rarely the ones who get recognition for it, it would be a huge coincidence for someone to be both the strongest at something and effectively personable enough to share it en masse
Angela Reuss the fact that they missed that part says a lot.
You do amazing work with your channel and I think this is the best one yet. Thank you much for your work!
I want to say this video perfectly aligns a mental conversation I have been having with myself for the past 3 years, all the way up to and including the conclusion--that you must fool yourself into believing that you're in absolute complete control of what happens to you in order to (have a chance at) achieving success.
It's interesting because I didn't approach it from a scientific lens as you have, but after being exposed to hard determinism. Of course, hard determinism takes it a few steps further in removing freewill altogether.
A nice corollary that falls out of these ideas is a real compassion for everyone less fortunate than you up to and including the worst criminals.
Oh hey, a CGP Grey shirt. That's cool.
Indeed. Good on you, Dirk form Veristablium.
Yep, love the Grey shirt!!!
@@JHD42 HA! That was the first thing I though when I started this video.
@@JHD42 The Duke from the Vatican
Ethan Stewart it says cgp grey
_"The biggest lie we tell ourselves is that we are all born equal. We are not. We are born lucky. How lucky is a matter of luck."_
-Somebody Probably
Not lucky enough to have his name remembered
It goes to you now,👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
_Merchants probably_
-You*
You're Indian, right?
the part from 10:00 is the most moving piece of youtube I've ever seen. I can also relate to the power of acknowledging luck as a big contributor to my successes - I find it liberating to be able to recognize the extent it contributed to where I am today
I really like this channel, never boring, sometimes difficult but always worth watching to the end. Good job!
So your advice at the end is basically, "Fake it 'til you make it but when you make it don't forget you faked it"
hey that's pretty good..
i like the cut of your jib
Just wow!
It seems that is the game that one has to play in order to appear confident and therefore trustworthy.
But some would argue that we have to keep trying: keep throwing the dice until you randomly get some favourable numbers.
pretty much
For years my own mantra has been: "feel superior, know that you are not".
I think that falls quite in line with the paradoxical advice. My inner feeling of superiority makes me confident that I can achieve what I set out to do. My acknowledgement of the lie makes it so I don't treat others as lesser people, but with dignity.
Regarding luck, I once heard someone say:
"You can't increase your luck, but you can increase your opportunities for luck to happen."
This is a great outlook and if you live like that, you will probably be perceived as a lucky person, simply because the number of times you were lucky will in general increase.
good mantra
@Cryonic Family sorry im not following you.
If I shoot 3 shots on a basketball court, I might miss all. But if I take 100 shots I might make at least 1.
@DéJi Vu trying to succeed is never wasted effort even if you fail, especially if you learn from your experiences.
@DéJi Vu yeah but at least you give yourself a chance, if you try you can get some things if you dont try...well you wont get anything.....unless you are EXTREMELY lucky.
I am fortunate to watch this video right when I needed it the most. Thank you Veritasium for all of your hard work, skills, and luck.
I’m incredibly grateful that this incredibly important video exists. I’ll watch it every time it appears in my feed, and I hope by leaving a comment that more people will be lucky enough to see it. Thanks for making such fantastic content, Derek 😊
watch it again broski
Ah a CPG grey shirt. A true man of culture :)
@Jen farmer uh, what
More like CGP Grey
@Jen farmer Please prove this.
What is cgp?
CGP and Vertasium are good friends
This is everything I've ever believed but wasn't able to quantify. Now I can explain it. Such a great video, thank you!
Hello! I love your videos thank you for being on TH-cam, you really saved my life
Hi I luv ur channel
I would agree I actually spent a long time to explain how to utilize paradoxical beliefs in a book I was writing titled the conscious delusion but I sort of had to give up mid way due to personal issues. edit love it when youtube deletes half my comment and scrambles words around but i fixed it
Just found your channel from this comment.
Ayyyy it’s Andreiiii
The video potential is limitless. I achieved success with the easy steps below.
Many need to know this. A known podcast in the US taught me how the rich seek the ideas of FinanciaI ConsuItants to help earn success. That’s the secret the rich don’t teach you. I took this step and my finance breathes so good now 🤑
Growth in finance is assured with the help of a FinanciaI consuItant. I engage in a lot with the ldeas of my consuItant and it yielded great returns. get in touch with her full name below
•Isabelle Chloe Scott•
We all have different impressions of an approach that defines how we understand and act on it regardless of the truth.
The approach here is true and should be put into action. feeIs good to be here.
This paradox is one ive noticed as well, and it's constantly on my mind as someone who is trying to start a TH-cam channel
My dad used to say that "success is where opportunity meets preparedness." You're not prepared you can't snag that opportunity and it'll just pass you by. On the other hand, you can prepare all you want, but if the opportunity doesn't present itself then you should still be proud of what you have accomplished, because although the hard work you put into being prepared didn't pay off in the way you imagined it would it still counts for something, you still went somewhere. And who knows, there may be a different opportunity you can snag that you didn't see coming. Be proud of where you are, strive to be better than you are now, find comfort in the present, and look toward the future and the infinite possibilities it holds.
Your words are reassuring thank you
Yes
Absolutely true
Guess it all depends on what you consider success.
Hear! Hear!
I think I'm going to credit you when I become successful 😂 .
Wow, finally, a successful influencer that doesn't put himself on the pedestal and teaches all the factors that we love to ignore. Bravo.
Maybe surprisingly, Pewdipie have the same conception about the role luck plays in his own success. He openly talks about it. I always thought it was great of him.
There's something about being in film/theater (Veritasium went to film school briefly) that seems to make people self-reflect more. They're usually more self-aware and humble.
@DATING HARLEY QUINN
Your story sounds interesting..
Wow I stumbled upon this at such an opportune time in my life. My friends and I are all struggling with the reality of living in one of the harshest, most expensive places in the US to live. We’re all struggling to get by even with help from our parents.
We’ve all hit a brick wall at some point or another, burning ourselves out and feeling bad about ourselves. Thankfully we’re moving through it at our own paces and a couple of us may have found a new opportunity for growth.
Thanks for the video. It really stood out for us.
I recognize that username, fellow Runescaper! Sorry things have been hard for you. Just a thought: Maybe you can consider moving to a low CoL area and look for a remote job?
Great video! I like the part you show your example when building up the youtube channel! Your videos are always inspiring, informative and down to earth 👍👍
"Downplaying the importance of chance events may actually improve the probability of success because if you percieve an outcome to be uncertain you're less likely to invest effort in it which further decreases your chances of success." damn that was a hard sentence
Hopefully more people embrace that.
Or said another way: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
@@abraxas365 well said
v"Don´t try to be a man of success, try to be a man of value." - Albert Einstein
@@globaldigitaldirectsubsidi4493 ctrl v ctrl v ctrl v
Dude. I'm going through A VERY hard time at the moment. I'm right now sitting at my work desk during lunch, not sure if I'll come back to it next week. Mentally exhausted from anxiety. And in the midst of it all, your video gave me not just peace and comfort but encouragement and good cheer. Thank you from the depths of the black hole that is my heart. P. S I met my wife by chance on Facebook. We got married in the middle of the pandemic in an alley.
Have a nice day. You are lucky. Most of the time I troll people. Hope you feel better later.
We're all together in it man! Keep up the hard work and good luck to you!
Keep at it brother. If you keep trying you'll surely have some good luck eventually. I wish you, and anybody else who might be struggling right now, nothing but the best.
congrats on the wedding chetta
okay im sorry but the fact that you met your wife and married her in an ally is kinda cute and funny
I like the last part of the video in which you summarise in explanation. it really helped me recall an strengthen the concepts of the video. I recommend adding a time line feature to your video, it helps us, scoopy learners understand in Summery and then tell it to our friends and families jn our own words.❤❤
When I decided to watch your video I had no Idea I'd end up in tears. This was really beautiful thank you.
10:05 is the most wholesome moment ever ❤️
I remember this story:
There was once someone in charge of selecting recruits for fighter pilot education. He had every application paper in front of him in a pile. They needed to be narrowed down. So he took the top half of the papers and threw in the waste bin. He said: "These applicants were unlucky. We don't want unlucky people as fighter pilots."
I love this story. Really made me laugh.
Hahaha, that's a great story. Do you remember his name by any chance?
True story or joke?
Feels like I've read this somewhere before....
@@DanNguyen-oc3xr it's from the office (uk version)
Wow. What a great video! Very well explained. Thank you, and thanks to everyone and everything that enabled discovering this talent. Thank you!
May the wind be at your back,..
I remember last semester, we took a class on starting a business/company and there were a bunch of successful entrepreneur doing lectures, pretty much all of them agreed that "We have no idea why we were successful but others weren't" and that studying how businesses succeed to make a _'What to do'_ list is less helpful than studying UNsuccessful businesses to make a _'What _*_not_*_ to do'_ list because winners always have some sort of survivors bias.
"You should do what you can to increase the luck of others" is a phrase that always get me.
Sure...and "workers of the world unite!" Don't buy into this Leftist drivel. What he's doing here is trying to take the credit from successful people and give it to those who didn't work nor contribute to it. This is the basis of socialism/Marxism. It's nonsense. There is nothing scientific here. This is a POLITICAL video.
Same here
But we have to buy his Snatoms kits before he will increase the luck of others. Capitalism at its finest?
@@TheJghan LOL, exactly. If you buy a lot of SnatomsX and you make this man a billionnaire, maybe this man will reach his self Transcendence and become the most selfless man on earth. He would give back to the society.
It is not me who tell that, it's the Maslow's hierarchy of needs and evolution rules. 🤣🤣🤣
Agreed. Thanks for thinking like this!
Excellent video, loved it!
Basically, we need both hard work and luck.
Also, we should only focus on the things we can control. We can INFLUENCE luck, but can't control it, and by being in more place, more often, we WILL increase our luck.
At the same time, I think people should start telling "work hard and smart" instead of just "work hard" and eventually you will get to success.
So yeah, work hard and smart, with a plan in mind, try out many new things without being overly attached to any of your ideas, and with a mindset of feeling lucky enough, that you're in a fortunate position and not willing to let all this go to waste, can fuel you day after day.
Very thoughtful and well articulated. Phenomenal video man. Keep up the good work.
Iam an iraqi refugee in france. I was applying into medical school, medical school in france is the hardest. Because of my bad french i was afraid of the written exams. Covid came and all written exams were canacled, this gave me a huge advantage over french students. I was able to advance on the list by 200 seat. I passed into medical school. I became the last student to be accepted in medecine for the year 2019-2020. Now that is luck.
Congrats, it's good to refugees succeed and work hard. It's hard for someone who grew up in a prosperous Western country to appreciate how much opportunity there is.
Legend, congrats
Absolute legend. I wish you the best of luck.
Damn,COVID makes my math pass too😂.
@@user-np1vy7oo2h how is it bad luck for his patients? That makes no sense.
Celebrity motivational videos be like:
I was sitting on the porch one day, depressed, had nothing to do, I was weak. I was all alone. My dad walked over to me and sat beside me. My dad told me something that would forever change my life and set me u
For success, He told me “son, my multi-billion dollar company is yours now”
Wow, that's very inspirational... Thank you, I'm much more motivated now
Very emotional indeed
2 years later you went bankrupt or he did indead coach you?
😂🤣
Really motivated 😭😭😭😭 wish more people were like his dad👍👍👍👍
bravoo!! this is exactly what is stated in the book Outliers. it´s so important to have this perception. you´ve managed to make a captivating video about the topic that explains the gist of the idea in a very friendly manner.
WOW!!! Currently my best Veritasium Video. So much knowledge and personal introspection and indirectly, self motivation. Thanks Dude! Love your Page and the knowledge you share!!!! Much love guy. Thanks again dude.
I've been trying to explain this for years to people, and NOW I have a good video I can point everyone to that gives a MUCH better summary than I have been able to.
By the way, I love the CGP Grey shirt.
I've been trying to do the same but people don't comprehend well enough anymore
EXACTLY!!!!.... im watching Graham Stephan and he is the perfect example... he always talks that you will get lucky if you work hard enough and i comment "what if you dont get lucky" and get tons of hate... classic survivorship bias repeating "millionaires went bankrupt more times than you tried", but what about people who went bankrupt and were not able to come back from that?..... how many of them are out there?
@@Zoltan1251 I knew someone who was a multimillionaire but few years back George Soros kinda fked up our country's financial system. He went bankrupt for like a decade then become multimillionaire again. What made the wealth is the man
@@nte2336 well, you are saying that the man who had connections was able to use his connections to earn money.... its still luck....
its like Trump, he isnt great business man, he went bankrupt so many times, he is an idiot with connections... again, he was born lucky into well connected family
One of my favorite quotes - "Luck is where preparation meets opportunity."
Except many unprepared people become wildly successful without working hard at all. So
@@frost1183 could be true in some special cases but preparation/hardwork is still required to maintain that success
Said by Tom Platz
Or where you are born in a rich household in a rich country
I agree with the statement, however, it comes with a caveat. The finesse of the prep is influenced by environment. Environment could also decide whether or not you get the opportunity that matches your prep.
Found this 3 years later and it is such an enlightenment! Thank you for the amazing video🙏
One of the best videos I have watched across all platforms. Great Job!
in Pakistan, there is a saying, "If Success comes from hard work, then show me a rich donkey"
edit: some are very confused so im editing this for clarification purposes. this expression implies Hard work is not the only element which helps u be successful, luck counts aswell. So if u keep the context in mind of the video, u willl see that i didnt randomly write an expression. but to help understand the video better.
and if u dont like the expression, thats fine.
That's why no one takes pakistan seriously
@@commanderleo you can't compare something that doesn't have the same capabilities as humans, to having the same outcomes as humans, because humans are different. That's why the saying is dumb, a donkey would never get rich even from hard work, ever, and is why the other guy said no one takes Pakistan seriously, because of silly sayings
Don't know if they work hard, but a couple of em exposed their donkeyness here in the comments. 😆
CommanderLeo real sayings have truth to them
Why make roast of your self bro !
Seriously Pakistan believe in that ?
"Hey that's a cool shirt"
- CGP Grey, probably
also: me XD
And some nice stick figures... ;)
Hey cool stickfigures
CPG grey probably.
The t-shirt is CGP Great
The animations remind me o GCP Grey. I wonder if that is Veritasium's way of showing gratitude to GCP Grey...
This is gold! I mean if i list out all the things that needed to happen at the right time for me to be where i m today it would be a huge list ! One thing to add is that hardwork and determination basically increase your chances of capitalizing on the opportunities presented to you by luck.
When I watched this video 3 years ago, I was offended by it. How could success depend on luck so much and all , now 3 years later, after having experienced everything in the video , it has made me more mature and humble. This video is pure masterpiece!
"increase the luck of others" that is the best phrase I have ever heard
It's hard to increase the luck of others that arent willing to work to better their lives. Yo ur effort will be wasted
@@scottwilliams3665 they are tired of their bad luck and circumstance , no man is lazy by birth. help people as much as possible don't expect any return
@@AravindHan008 exactly.
Luck is zero-sum. We cannot increase everyone's luck. But we can increase opportunities. And we can help people deal better with good and bad luck.
@@ZorbaTheDutch No. It's not. Going from where most of the world is in poverty to where we are now, to the future where no one would die of poverty or of diseases. You are lucky today by all means. Don't be an entitled ....
"Don´t try to be a man of success, try to be a man of value." - Albert Einstein
and stay in shadows, proud, bright, but unknown.
Ascolano Irl no one cares what you think. Most people care about what Einstein thinks.
Ascolano Irl sure, but since Einstein has more credibility. I would take his advice, over yours. All the time.
Ascolano Irl Einstein is one of the most successful Physicists to ever exists, he is know throughout the world. Why wouldn’t I consider his advice. I’m not saying I will blindly follow him, but he will always get the consideration over someone without any sort of credibility.
Boundless appreciation to you for producing such profound video 👏
Your last bit of advice is spot on. Never rely on luck, but it's ok to take chances every now and then. And when you are struck with bad luck, well most of the time it's because you did something that led to a risky situation you should have never been in. And when you succeed, you should understand what was caused directly by your hard work and what was good fortune.
I guess this is why persistence is so important. The more times you try, the more chances you have at getting high enough luck.
This is a very good comment. Some people might be feeling down after this, feeling as if they may not have had the same chances as others (me included) , but the fact is we can create our own luck. No matter how unfair life has been, as long as you keep working hard and keep knocking on those doors, there will come a time where one of those doors will open. It may take days, weeks, months or years, but you would rather work hard and try to get an opportunity than to sit at home and be upset about the unfairness of life.
Great comment.
I kind of disagree. Sometimes, no matter how many times you try, or how hard you work, you will fail. This is a fact of life and the sooner people learn that, the sooner they will stop believing in those pop psychology nonesense.
In the past years,
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20% of U.S. small businesses fail within the first year. By the end of their fifth year, roughly 50% have faltered. After 10 years, only around a third of businesses have survived. Surprisingly, business failure rates are fairly consistent and are not directly connected with covid 19 but rather is a fairly normal failure rates...
So unless you get a little help from pure luck, whanever you try your hardess, you have a fair chance to lose your business, your health and your mind trying...
Does that mean you should stop trying? No, but if you keep doing the same thing over and over, 'persistance' being your only strategy, it is not gonna work. You may need to change your approach, or consider 'failing for good', and move to something else... Adaptability is more useful than stubborness. And sometimes, accepting your failure is a big part of your future success.
@@jessikapiche6097 You need a large amount of luck and social connections, I agree. When I said that you should stay working hard and persist, you explained pretty much what I meant . Persistance doesn't necessarily mean being stubborn and executing the same method repeatedly, but rather the persistence in the ability to adapt and overcome. To look at your mistakes from an analytical viewpoint so that you could do the same task with higher efficiency. You adapt, persist, analyse mistakes and overcome.
Persistence isn't constantly walking into a wall until you get through, it's continuing to try to find a way around, over, or sometimes threw it, instead of giving up. So what you call adaptability I consider to be part of persistence.
"Current isn't measured in Volts?"
"That's hot"
hahaha truee
lol
Ampers... And wow, that's a crazy way to flirt
Well, that's known for a very long time - that smartness is a helluva sexy thing ;)
@@arunotei That's why couples play with their minds in bed, right? :D
I got my college paid for by luck 100%. I signed up for an hourly job, then the manager told me I could use that job as a graduate assistantship, so I’d get paid more in a secure salary AND get my tuition paid for.
I am extremely grateful and hope to pass on my luck to someone else someday.
It literally felt like a slap on my face. I was just talking about who contributed the most in Theatre. Such a great video, thank you!
random guy: *born in december*
hockey: we don't do that here
😆😆😆
LOL
I did immediately pause the video and look up Wayne Gretzky by the way.
26th of January.
I was born on december 31st.. So i am extremely unlucky and therefore claim all my succes to my hard work and skills!
I did gymnastics when I was young and we had two people in our group. Me (born in november) and the other girl (born January 1th - yes really). We were 8-12 years old, and I almost always lost because she would be just a little bigger and stronger than me, her being basically a year older. She was more sloppy, but her strength generally made up for it. It made this bias super obvious.
Derek admitting that his success is through luck immediately after telling the viewer that someone saying this makes them more likeable...
My like has increased.
v"Don´t try to be a man of success, try to be a man of value." - Albert Einstein
the most underappreciated call-to-action
and I like him more for it! 😂
And even though he telled the trick before it still worked.
one of the best gems of Derek, I keep returning to or sending to people. He has quite a few of these super gems.
2 years late here, but I've recently started watching these videos and was wondering why I found the voice so "famliar", and in this video I see you're from Sydney, ie, an Australian.
Very much do enjoy the way you present your topics. This one in particular is something I frequently discuss with my wife ( coincidentally, also a "luck" meeting after being casually deported from South Africa ).
Thank you for putting the effort in to the videos.
So I need to be an optimist while secretly being a pessimist but also a closet realist.
I think I need press a screwdriver through my head at this point if to achieve that "happy-go-lucky" attitude.
you summed it up perfectly
Pretty much sums it up
well i cant think of a better way to sum it up
and I thought being like this is bad 😐
I have simulated the selection process described at 3:37 and found similar result to the video's using an uniform distribution for hard work (that I would call talent, or skill) and luck. After 1000 simulations, I get a 94.8 average luck score for the 11 selected (vs 94.7 in the video ). And on average, only 1.54 of those 11 would stay in the top 11 based on skill only (vs 1.6 in the video).
However, I would argue that talent or skill are not uniformly distributed. Indeed, while there are millions of average football players, there is only one Lionel Messi for example. Obviously, the simulation is more subjective in that case as you need to choose the normal distribution parameters. Taking a distribution N(mean=50, stddev=10), and clipping the values between 0 and 100, I find that luck (distributed with N(50, 10) as well) is actually insignificant. With this model, the average luck score of the selected candidates is 51.9 (barely above average) and 10.1 of the winners would still be chosen based on skill only.
This situation is way more realistic in my experience. When looking at the results of the engineering school entrance exam in France for example, the very best students in my class (who were also in the top 0.1% in the country) all finished at the top of every ranking, even though they must have been less lucky at some exams than others. Their level of skill was so much higher compared to the other students that an unlucky result would make them finish 15th out of 5000 instead of being in the top 3 on a good day. This is the same thing with high level sports were even on rare occurrences like the Olympics, we still see favorites actually winning.
In conclusion, I want to be optimistic and say that hard work pays off, more than luck at least!
One of the Most Intriguing videos I have seen. Thank you for sharing.
In my experience, the individual who's successful is largely determined by luck, but hard work determines the pool the lucky are chosen from.
I always say hard work and talents are what you need to buy the lottery ticket for extreme success. Luck is needed to win the lottery. If you don't have talent or work hard you would never buy the lottery ticket but if you do it then you get the chance to play the lottery. but winning the lottery is dependent on luck. This also applies to scientific innovation. An errant idea or thought which turned out to be right. Intelligence and knowledge itself are requirements for generating the idea but generating that idea is based on luck. This is more true now then in the past since most low hanging fruits have been picked.
No. Luck is always gonna be there and you have no actual control. But you can run unluckyness mitigation so you dont get fucked over.
Hmm but wouldnt the people need luck to even have a chance to get into that pool in the first place?
Idealized. Many ppl live long, comfortable, easy and enjoyable life without any kind of hard work ever. The sad truth is that it seems there is little to no correlation between how hard you work and what you get out of it. Not to mention that having a certain work ethic, resilience and willpower is already a type of luck.
@@JasonJonesoriginal The pool is OF hard workers.
"so how did you meet our mother"
"she noticed that the current wasn't measured in volts"
"watt?"
"watt?"
She's a keeper
And I was amped
watt u say?
@@md.ihtishamsharif4041 amper
I was ohms
I think one can strategically increase his luck as well, though. The more you are around an environment that will be conducive to you making connections or increasing knowledge to meet your goals, the "luckier" you are when the opportunity comes.
Love this so much! It's so informative, inspiring and uplifting.
There is an entire book based on this phenomenon.
"Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. A great read
I was thinking the same thing. The hockey player's analogy was in that book too.
Exactly my thoughts as well. Was looking for this comment
As soon as he mentioned the hockey team, I knew this video was the brain child of that book.
Kind of surprised and disappointed that Derek didn't give a shout out or reference Gladwell...he lifted the hockey example from the book exactly.
I thought this sounded familiar
The book "Outliers" details this really well.
That's the book I thought of when her brought up the age disparity for hockey.
Reading it was boring but now I see it wasn't a useless waste of space inside my brain
This is so true!
@@nugget814 yeah I didn’t think it was greatly written either. The book The Millionaire Next Door on the other hand is fantastic
Very very insightful and based upon reality, exactly what I needed at this time of my life. Thank you, you got a new subscriber ❤🎉
This man is preaching love man! Its almost making me cry😢
*veritasium crediting others for the success was the sweetest part of the video...*
He also showed a way to manipulate people into thinking is kinder than he might be
@@RNCHFND thought so... but it was a good example
Or was it? ;)
@@RNCHFND 😅
77😅