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Why Being Delusional is a Superpower

Veritasium

21M subscribers • 15 videos on Rounds

YouTube
  • Recommended by 9 people, in Hacker News, across 9 different months.
  • Sells products. The upload promotes a product, supplement, program or service, or the speaker sells what they recommend.

For anyone, no background needed. Education, not medical advice.

15M views6 years ago9 recommendations

Brain and nervesNeuroscience

An exploration of how luck influences success and how a slightly delusional belief in one's own control can drive achievement.

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 We have a tabletop game launching! Pledge your support now - ve42.co/KickStarterD 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

Why it's here

9 people recommend this

What people say. Recommended for its insightful look at how luck shapes success and how our perception of it influences our behavior.

hyuuuin Hacker News • Recommends

On “I thought I would have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35”

this is an interesting view: link to this video how luck plays a role to your success but also how you perceive your success which will change your behavior
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xorfishin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Six Figures in 6 days”

Ah, success, luck and skill. A really interesting topic. There is also a very good Veritasium Video about that: link to this video
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O_H_Ein Hacker News • Recommends

On “High IQs are associated with mental and physical disorders”

Semi tangent: I would really recommend watching "Is Success Luck or Hard Work?" By Veritasium link to this video
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rgiffordin Hacker News • Recommends

On “How to Work Hard”

Stats measure our shared experience. Is there something better for this? The human spirit isn't unconquerable. Believing it is has the side effect that you write off others because, "try harder." Vertasium did a fairly convincing bit on the zip code thing, which is -- I think -- why it's top of mind: link to this video I encourage you to dig into economic data and not use your experience as a frame of reference for the economic reality of others.
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cgrealyin Hacker News • Recommends

On “The 3x+1 Problem [video]”

Absolutely. His "gravity is not a force" video led me through a whole range of emotions from "this is ridiculous" to "actually..." to "holy crap, I've been wrong about this my entire life". In terms of sheer brain-breaking... this is my favourite: link But this is the one I think people on HN need to watch most link to this video
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travisgriggsin Hacker News • Recommends

On “How imaginary numbers were invented [video]”

I love Veritasium. Derek has done a number of videos that are awesome like this. The videos are great and educational, but he also manages to subtly weave in an almost spiritual subtext to them as well. For example, in this one, you learn about imaginary numbers in some cool ways, history, how awesome e^ix is, etc, but also this yen-yang balance between embracing not only what is real but taking a chance on what is imaginary. Some of my other favorites: - link - link - link - link to this video - link I think he’s going to lose the $10,000 bet on the car though.
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ookdatnogin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Class Bullshitters”

Discussions on the role of luck in success pop up here on HN from time to time, and one pattern that stands out to me is that, for a good chunk of people, it seems really important to their sense of identity that luck is at best a minor factor in their success. Your post is one of the more direct renderings of that point of view: you don't really argue that the parent post is wrong, merely that it's not a healthy way to frame it. Which makes me curious: why do you believe that it is bad for someone to believe that their success is largely caused by luck? As an aside, personally I subscribe to this view on the interaction of luck and success: link to this video
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belterin Hacker News • Recommends

On “I cheated on my Microsoft interview (2019)”

> Out of pretty much all the people I know, I can't think of any successful career not pivoting on one such fateful moment of "luck". One lucky question/answer, one fortunate encounter, one near miss. You are so correct (at proper timestamp): link to this video
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jiveturkeyin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Everything I wish I had known about raising a seed round”

> number 1 reason ... a world-class personal track record. > That’s not to take anything away from Matt. Why would that take anything away from Matt? That's tremendous. Anyway I'd disagree. The number 1 factor is luck. I like this video link to this video but there are plenty like it. Luck accumulates/aggregates/concentrates. I don't know if they cover it that way in that video.
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falcolasin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Low parental income in childhood linked to increased risk of mental disorders”

> I'm not trying to shame anyone. Yes, you are. “Most mental disorders are not that serious” is passive-aggressively stating that those suffering from something you consider to “not be serious” just aren’t working hard enough ; that they’re lazy, not disabled. The truth is, you can work as hard as you want, but if you’re not lucky as well, that work won’t propel you forward. link to this video <- Veritasium on luck vs hard work
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rameerezin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Show HN: An interactive simulation to explore the effect of luck in success”

…as the code 3, I think the idea that hard work alone doesn't guarantee success is a powerful one. Plus, I think the app is fun to play with. Hope this thought experiment helps reflect about the whole idea of randomness in life, and maybe help spark a few interesting conversations with friends! It'd be great to hear your feedback. 1 link 2 link to this video 3 link…
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clouddroverin Hacker News • Mentions

On “YouTube and Patreon Still Aren’t Paying the Rent for Most Creatives”

> The way most entertainers get known is just through sheer luck or connections. Derek Muller has a couple of videos talking about the success of his Veritasium YouTube channel (and work, luck, and success generally): link link to this video
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yazaddaruvalain Hacker News • Mentions

On “Apple can own I/O to own the universe”

Said more succinctly, benevolent/inconsequential "lying" for society's or your own improvement can be a very useful modus-operandi. 0 link to this video 1 link
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CynicusRexin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Gen Z is going to have a hard time getting rich”

1% of the human population has what, north of 80% of the world's money? If that's not some form of tyranny worthy of criticism, then I don't know what is. Most good fortune in the world comes down to luck and help of literally everyone else. Not wanting to share that wealth comes down to pure greed, ego, and ignorance. Veritasium – Is Success Luck or Hard Work? link to this video
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ttfkamin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Meritocracy Is a Myth”

Luck (and nepotism) play far too great a role in success for meritocracy to exist. link to this video Then of course there's the whole "the guy who first coined term considered it a joke." Too many people missed the satire and took it way too seriously. link
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mitchdooglein Hacker News • Mentions

On “I accidentally loaned all my money to the US government”

I saw a video explaining where if you attribute just 5% of outcomes to luck, then the people who have the best outcomes are among the luckiest people. It's hard to define just how much luck would matter in any given situation, but if you consider every aspect of our lives as part of luck, which I think is what people mean when they debate luck vs hard work, then I think it's a lot higher than 5% actually. That is, things like place/time of birth, parents, family, socioeconomic status at birth, schools, friends, teachers, health, timing of things, chance encounters - these things are all mostly outside of your control. Someone on hacker news might be thinking how they worked hard for years to…
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