Given the Illusion of Control, What Role Might Luck Play in the Game of Life?

Session Title

Session 1-3-E: Gambling and Risk Taking

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation

Location

Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV

Start Date

23-5-2023 1:45 PM

End Date

23-5-2023 3:15 PM

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Given the Illusion of Control, What Role Might Luck Play in The Game of Life?

Poker was once described by John von Neumann as a “recreation of incomplete information.” In this paper, I explore the concept of how one’s approach to “luck” might contribute to an individual’s life path. The work of Nicholas Rescher’s studies on ‘Luck’ and Irving Goffman’s work on ‘action’ will play a major role in the project. Most especially, I review the extent of control we might have over our endeavors along the life path. If there are fortuitous determinates along this route, how might we shape our decision-making process to accommodate them?

This analysis of the gambling process of everyday life turns on how we play the game and the assessment of both the route and the sport itself. At bottom, luck lies beyond anyone’s rational control. The contemporary social world is inundated with expanding uncertainties in our daily life; especially, within the concept of action.

Keywords: Gambling, risk-taking, fateful action, luck, decision making

Keywords

Gambling, risk-taking, fateful action, decision making, luck

Author Bios

Brief Bio: Barbara Torell, Ed. D. University of San Francisco; MA in philosophy, San Francisco State University; BA, Honors, UCSC. Torell is a research scholar, poet, and former instructor at the European School of Economics in Milan, Italy. Publications and conference presentations primarily focused on Temporality, Risk and Narrative Analysis.

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May 23rd, 1:45 PM May 23rd, 3:15 PM

Given the Illusion of Control, What Role Might Luck Play in the Game of Life?

Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV

ABSTRACT

Given the Illusion of Control, What Role Might Luck Play in The Game of Life?

Poker was once described by John von Neumann as a “recreation of incomplete information.” In this paper, I explore the concept of how one’s approach to “luck” might contribute to an individual’s life path. The work of Nicholas Rescher’s studies on ‘Luck’ and Irving Goffman’s work on ‘action’ will play a major role in the project. Most especially, I review the extent of control we might have over our endeavors along the life path. If there are fortuitous determinates along this route, how might we shape our decision-making process to accommodate them?

This analysis of the gambling process of everyday life turns on how we play the game and the assessment of both the route and the sport itself. At bottom, luck lies beyond anyone’s rational control. The contemporary social world is inundated with expanding uncertainties in our daily life; especially, within the concept of action.

Keywords: Gambling, risk-taking, fateful action, luck, decision making