I’d be willing to consider that at least one (more likely several) of these subtle skills might exist; we’ve got some similar things well documented already, like “charisma”, and searching for more seems at least like a reasonable pursuit. But that ought to be tempered by some statistical skepticism; as the saying goes, million-to-one chances happen eight times a day in New York.
That’s kind of what I was getting at. One skill or habit might be the tendency to stop before you hit the edge of the ravine. People who look like they’re blase about taking risks and are just “lucky,” but in fact are just good at finding opportunities and adapting to circumstances and not going quite all the way into dangerous situations. A sort of micro-level good judgment, which often compensates for macro-level bad judgment. (Think of someone who looks like he never studies and is just “lucky,” but actually has a good sense, maybe subconscious, of what is worth working on and what isn’t.)
I’d be willing to consider that at least one (more likely several) of these subtle skills might exist; we’ve got some similar things well documented already, like “charisma”, and searching for more seems at least like a reasonable pursuit. But that ought to be tempered by some statistical skepticism; as the saying goes, million-to-one chances happen eight times a day in New York.
That’s kind of what I was getting at. One skill or habit might be the tendency to stop before you hit the edge of the ravine. People who look like they’re blase about taking risks and are just “lucky,” but in fact are just good at finding opportunities and adapting to circumstances and not going quite all the way into dangerous situations. A sort of micro-level good judgment, which often compensates for macro-level bad judgment. (Think of someone who looks like he never studies and is just “lucky,” but actually has a good sense, maybe subconscious, of what is worth working on and what isn’t.)