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Insightful comment about luck versus skill

Posted By: Tom Keith
Date: Sunday, 15 August 2010, at 1:21 p.m.

In Response To: Insightful comment about luck versus skill (mamabear)

Isn't this an arbitrary division into luck and skill? From a scientific point of view it is more useful to have a definition of luck that depends on results rather than peoples' perceptions. Here are a couple examples:

1. Suppose somebody uses a "system" to play the lottary. They might believe strongly that the system adds skill to the game. But if they do no better than people who don't use the system, is the system really an element of skill?

2. Suppose a baseball player goes through an eloborate routine before stepping into the batter's box. He might tell you that it is just a silly superstition. But if he does measurably better when he goes through the routine than when he doesn't, wouldn't you say that using the routine is an element of skill even though the batter is not conscienciously aware of it?

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