From Princeton to Bestselling Author: Michael Lewis on Luck, Success, and Humility
Princeton Baccalaureate 2012: Michael Lewis shares his journey from Princeton to becoming a bestselling author. He highlights the role of luck in success and the misvaluation of baseball players. The speech emphasizes the importance of recognizing luck and staying humble.
00:00:00 Princeton Baccalaureate 2012: Michael Lewis gives a speech about graduation and the uncertainty of the future.
🎓 Graduation is a memorable moment, even if the speeches aren't remembered.
😮 The speaker reflects on their own graduation experience and feelings of outrage.
📚 Despite majoring in art history, the speaker ended up successful.
00:02:00 Princeton Baccalaureate 2012: Michael Lewis explains how his career as a writer began after writing his senior thesis at Princeton, despite not having published anything before. He shares his journey of literary ambition and the advice he received from his advisor.
🎓 Despite not having any published work, the speaker realized their passion for writing while working on their senior thesis at Princeton.
💡 The speaker's thesis advisor played a crucial role in igniting their literary ambition and obsession.
✍️ Although discouraged by their advisor, the speaker pursued writing by going to graduate school.
00:04:01 A Princeton graduate joins Salomon Brothers and witnesses the madness of Wall Street. He chooses passion over money and writes a bestselling book.
📚 The speaker shares their experience of working at Salomon Brothers and observing the transformation of Wall Street.
💰 Salomon Brothers paid inexperienced Princeton graduates large sums of money to pretend to be experts in the field of derivatives.
💡 The speaker chose to quit their high-paying job and write a book based on their intellectual passion instead.
00:06:04 Michael Lewis discusses the role of luck in success and how the Oakland A's, a poor baseball team, achieved more wins than the rich New York Yankees by employing a unique strategy.
📚 Success is often attributed to luck and not just skill or effort.
⚾️ The book Moneyball explains how the Oakland A's were successful despite having a lower budget than other teams.
💰 Rich teams in professional baseball do not always win due to their higher spending on players.
00:08:06 Princeton Baccalaureate 2012: Michael Lewis discusses the misvaluation of baseball players due to the lack of recognition of luck in their success. This has broader implications in life, reminding us to not be deceived by outcomes and to recognize our own luck.
Baseball players were undervalued because experts did not consider the role of luck in their success.
Corporate employees in sports are paid millions, even though their job has not significantly changed for a century.
The Moneyball story emphasizes the importance of using better data and recognizing the role of luck in life's outcomes.
00:10:11 The speaker discusses a psychology experiment involving cookies to explain human behavior in areas like Wall Street bonuses and CEO pay.
An experiment conducted by researchers at Cal psychology department revealed that arbitrarily appointed leaders in a group tend to take advantage of their position of power.
The experiment involved teams of three students who were given a moral problem to solve, and a plate of four cookies was brought into the room after 30 minutes.
The arbitrarily appointed leader consistently took the fourth cookie, despite not having any special task or virtue, indicating a sense of entitlement based on their perceived status.
00:12:11 Princeton Baccalaureate 2012: Michael Lewis discusses luck, privilege, and the importance of humility in success.
🔑 The video explores how people behave when they are oblivious to their own luck.
🎓 The speaker addresses the new graduates of Princeton University, highlighting their privileged position and the opportunities they have been given.
🍪 The speaker advises the graduates to not always assume they deserve more and to appreciate their privileges without entitlement.
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