MICHEL PIREU: Luck’s role in successful trading is often unacknowledged
We usually explain success by our own skill and blame failures on the ineptness of others
In Jane Sutton’s book The Trouble with Cauliflower, Mortimer (a koala) is convinced cauliflower causes bad luck. When he eats a stew with cauliflower in it, he has bad luck the next day. He stubs his toe, spills his juice and fails his driving test, among other mishaps. Yet when he eats his friend’s “vegetable surprise” casserole without knowing it contains cauliflower, the following day is a good one; he has a fun time at the fair and wins a free pizza.
Could it just be that Mortimer, expecting to have bad luck, becomes overly nervous for his driver’s test, making him unable to drive well enough to pass? On the other hand, he also spills juice and stubs his toe, things that do not have a clear cause. What’s more, when Mortimer unwittingly eats cauliflower, and is not expecting bad luck, not even these small misfortunes befall him...
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