Charlie McDanger has some useful life lessons, in the context of poker, on his blog. Here's an excerpt:
On leaving the table, the pro remarked, "Of course when I play against you, you have a real hand."
This is such phenomenal loser talk, borne of loser thinking, that it bears dissection.
The root of this remark is found in what psychologists call "attribution error" and the "self-serving bias." They're two sides of the same coin, the idea being that when somebody else succeeds, it is because he is lucky; when I succeed, it is because I am good. Alternatively, when someone else fails, it is because he sucks; when I fail, it is because I am unlucky.
It is hard to overstate the prevalence of this thinking at the poker table or, for that matter, in life generally. If other people are rich, they are lucky. If they are slim, they have good genes. On the other hand, if I am rich, it is because I'm brilliant. Et cetera.
What I want you to take away is that this is poisonous, ruinous, horseshit thinking. It affects you, it affects me, and it diminishes what you will accomplish in this life. If you believe your failures are out of your hands, you will continue to fail. And if you don't acknowledge the positive steps others take to achieve success, you will never emulate them.
A clear-headed thinker would examine why he lost two stacks to me; this guy will go home thinking, "That lucky Charlie--he gets queens and then kings in the span of five hands against me." End of analysis. Charlie is lucky. I'm unlucky.
There's more at the link. Interesting reading.
Peter
2 comments:
I like his thinking, also when you make an error don't beat yourself up, think about how to change your action.
Still you can't beat luck.
Thanks for the link. And nice work here...I'm a new fan.
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