Random processes are not consistent with our experience, so we don’t understand them intuitively.Leonard Mlodinow
A drunkard’s walk is a random walk. The term refers to the path a drunk man takes as he staggers down a street or a hallway, alternatively moving somewhat to the left or right, forwards or backwards.Leonard Mlodinow
Much of what we attribute to skill is actually the result of randomness.Leonard Mlodinow
Our brains are wired to look for patterns and to seek cause-effect relationships.Leonard Mlodinow
The result of a single random event is only meaningful when seen in the context of a series of events.Leonard Mlodinow
Luck plays a large part in every life, and it is only over the long term, and often the very long term, that the skill component of luck-and-skill events stands out.Leonard Mlodinow
A losing gambler may feel that he is due to win, but the wheel of fortune does not remember its past spins, and each spin is independently random.Leonard Mlodinow
A great philosopher once pointed out that in ordinary life, no one ever questions this harsh law of large numbers, but in games of chance everyone believes his luck must change.Leonard Mlodinow
When a random process is at work, the most unlikely outcomes become likely given enough time.Leonard Mlodinow
If luck versus skill, as seen in the Gaussian curve’s narrow waist and fat tails, were a plot of a Hollywood movie, it would be called The Invasion of the Probability Snatchers.Leonard Mlodinow