Angry at folk that think there hard working.

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Alright there are people that are genuinely hard working no doubt.


But there are just as many that are just lucky genetically and are total snobs about it.

Have you noticed this, I have a cousin who's got lucky and has all the positive traits of intelligence in my family and none of the shortcomings.

It's just this snobbery that is so infuriating, because there in total denial how much genetics plays a role.

Stoek, I'm not quite sure why you're angry at people who work hard and are proud of it. Working hard is an accomplishment. Would you want somebody invalidating your accomplishments? Have you thought seriously about what kind of world we would have if nobody worked hard?

Genetics are only part of it--I consider myself to be lucky to be living outside a war zone. Many folks are worse off than we due to poor economic situations and corrupt governments.

Last edited by BTDT on 06 Mar 2013, 3:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It is my understanding that there are studies (that I can't find ATM) that suggest that the average person probably underestimates the role of external factors in relative success.

That said, internal loci of control is usually corrolated with success in general, so you might have a chicken and egg situation here.

No, I don't think that's it.

If someone fails in the empathy department like that then that is a "shortcoming".

Would you really consider a person like that lucky in a general sense; one who treats others unfairly on a regular basis because they can't comprehend that they're not above other people but the same as those they look down upon? Treating others unfairly not by accident or because you made a mistake but because that is what you believe in is poor.

I apologize for the rant I generally avoid these type of threads, but my complaint has a basis in reality. .

I was angry for a family member who refuses to acknowledge the degree to which circumstance and luck will effect one's life.

My anger is these types of people tend to take credit for things calling it hard work(like being smart), good looking etc etc.

How can you take pride in an obvious advantage and turn around and act as if its your hard work that gets you your results.


Looking back it's obvious it was just her own personal hubris and here's why.

She found out about an hour after I made this thread, that she may not be able to complete her program in school.

She was horribly unlucky, with regards to a procedural policy, and may be forced out of her program because of this.

Talk about luck and circumstance.

my dad was born into a poor family and worked very hard to be the successful man he is today. Sure, he was lucky that genetically he was a hard worker, and that genetically he had solid intellect, but he works sooooooooooooooooooooo sooooooooooooo hard. He is a cpa and is gone everyday from 5am until 9pm lol.

Angry people complain about bad luck; happy people brag about hard work.

There must be a reason for this.

I work my a** off and I don't brag about it. I simply need to be kept busy and working two jobs accomplishes this.

Funny,I just learned about this in psychology. It was under the heading of 'attribution'. People tend to attribute their success to their own internal qualities and efforts, and their failures to external factors.
I suppose it's part of the human condition.

Maybe some people also think that the only way you could know a lot of stuff is to work hard and learn it, whereas I know some people have an ability to learn a lot in a short time without much effort. I think some people who can't do this might not understand it, and just equate the amount of work with the amount of knowledge. Maybe.

Or maybe they don't want to admit certain things, and it is easier for them to think that way.

Something I notice. It's a hell of a lot easier to "work hard" at something you're naturally good at and/or find enjoyable and rewarding. It's a lot harder to "work hard" at something you suck at and/or find to be uninspiring drudgery. It's this lack of understanding that different people have different activities that are intrinsically motivating that leads to the assumption that people who don't share the same aptitudes and interests as you are "lazy".

It's also often true that people with lower intellect are harder working in the plainer sense of the word. More intelligent people are often lazier in some ways.

If you sit around and wait for "luck" to turn to your favor, you will be "lucky" only half of the time; and your good "luck" will be cancelled out by your bad "luck", leaving only you left to make something of your situation.

If instead you put forth some effort, you can turn more "luck" to your favor, and when bad things happen to you, the "luck" you have created for yourself will still be there.

I was born an Aspie into a household run by an abusive, bigoted, alcoholic tyrant. After leaving that hellhole, I had to put myself through university, during which I married a woman who was also abusive, bigoted, alcoholic, and tyrannical (I didn't know any better at the time). 12 years later, she had her boyfriend pay for her high-priced divorce lawyer, and I lost my home, my family, and my job. After over a year of homelessness and having my unemployment payments docked by the court to pay child support, I joined the Navy.

This was the turning point. Instead of taking a passive role in my own life and relying on "luck" to keep me going, I took a crash course in personal accountability, responsibility, and confidence-building - military life will do that for you. Since then, "luck" has not been a major factor in my life.

While serving overseas, I met my current wife. About a year later, I shipped back to the States. About a year after that, she can to the States, as well. About a year after that, we were married. Since then, I've worked for the DOD, a State agency, a County agency, a City agency, and I'm now in the transportation industry, designing intelligent transportation systems and looking forward to an early retirement. I also do volunteer work at a local relief mission, and take in relatives who would otherwise be homeless due to their reliance on "luck". Believe me, by the time they move out, they have learned the value of hard work.

Sure, it's easy to work at what you're good at; it's also easy to sit back and wait for a "lucky" break; but only the former is sure to put you in a position where bad "luck" won't be devastating.

Good and bad "luck" will cancel each other out, and all you'll have left is yourself and what you've learned.

^^^

Wise words. These words are the meaning behind the aphorism "Chance favors the prepared mind."

Qui audet adipiscitur.....

Who dares, wins...

Wrong side of the pond for that motto, but it works just as well.

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." -- Seneca the Younger (4 BC to 65 AD), Roman dramatist, philosopher, & politician.

"It is bad luck to be unprepared for an opportunity." -- Fnord's Corollary to Seneca's Maxim

Too simplistic, doesn't account for nearly enough variables.

Does feed into the whole "bootstrap" nonsense that so much of modern society seems to cling to, though.