I came across an article on the internet the other day that I wished I'd saved so I could link to it here, but didn't happen to think of it at the time. Unlucky, really. The article was about a researcher who decided to try to figure out why some people were lucky and others weren't. He advertised for people who felt they were unusually lucky or unlucky so he could research potential differences between the two groups.
The test referenced in the article involved a fake ad inserted into a newspaper. Each person was given a section of newspaper and told to count how many photos were in that section. And in that section of newspaper was a half page advertisement in letters two inches high saying that if the person reported finding this ad to the researcher, he would be given $50. Members of the lucky group almost always found the fake ad, while members of the unlucky group almost always missed it.
I've heard one definition of luck as being when preparation meets opportunity. This study suggests that being observant is a key component of luck, because you can't take advantage of an opportunity you haven't perceived.
So keep your eyes open this upcoming year, because you never know what unknown possibilities might be just around the corner. May we all be luckier in 2009!
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3 comments:
Your blog post reminds me of Teela Brown, the female character in Larry Niven's "Ring World."
Her qualifications for this mission in space were quite unusual. She was a participant in an alien breeding experiment to isolate "luck."
Link to more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teela_Brown
Found it! I've been reading "Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brains!" by Scott Adams and this morning it mentioned a book by Richard Wiseman called "The Luck Factor". A quick google search found this pdf and on page 3 it mentions the luck study you're talking about: http://www.richardwiseman.com/resources/The_Luck_Factor.pdf
How lucky is that? :-)
Ah! Lucky you happened to be reading that book!
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