The Chris Cuomo Project - Cuomo On The Couch: Luck Vs. Fortune

Episode Date: June 15, 2023

Chris Cuomo explores whether the idea of luck is a fantasy, if fortune favors the bold, and why you don’t need magical thinking to get the outcomes in life you desire. Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

somebody rolls double sixes four times in a row. Seems like they always do it. Lucky, right? You fish with a guy, same bait, same place, jigging it the same way, he catches more than you. Lucky, right? Guy takes a shot, like wings it up over his head, bounces off the backboard, hits the rim, goes in.

He didn't even see where it was going. Guy's lucky. She's lucky. She mishits the ball, barely touches the line. She winds up winning the point. This happens all the time with these people. Lucky, right? Wrong.

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and you can get up to 35% off your first order. CozyEarth.com and the code is CHRIS. We don't fake the funk here, and here's the real talk. Over 40 years of age, 52% of us experience some kind of ED between the ages of 40 and 70. I know it's taboo.

It's embarrassing. But it shouldn't be. Thankfully, we now have HIMS. And it's changing the vibe by providing affordable access to ED treatment. And it's all online. HIMS is changing men's health care. Why? Because it's giving you access to affordable and discreet sexual health treatments.

And you do it right from your couch. HIMS provides access to clinically proven generic alternatives to Viagra or Cialis or whatever. And it's up to like 95% cheaper. And their options are as low as two bucks a dose. HIMS has hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers. So if ED is getting you down, it's time to pick it up. Start your free online visit today at HIMS.com slash CCP. H-I-M-S dot com slash CCP.

And you will get personalized ED treatment options. HIMS.com slash CCP. Prescriptions, you need an online consultation with a healthcare provider. And they will determine if appropriate. Restrictions apply. You see the website. You'll get details and important safety information. You see the website, you'll get details and important safety information.

You're going to need a subscription. It's required. Plus, price is going to vary based on product and subscription plan. I'm Chris Cuomo and welcome to another Cuomo on the couch, couch potato. But I'm coming on my way down, by the way, and there will be an unveiling,

okay? There will be an unveiling. I am down about 20 pounds, no ozempic, okay? Making the point that you can do it. It's simple, but it's hard. And when you look for easy, you wind up getting into trouble because the only thing that comes easy is trouble. Now, that's what we're doing here. We're doing some couch speak. We're going deep on something that a lot of us rely on that we shouldn't. So thank you for subscribing, following, picking up that free agent merch, wearing your independence, boasting of being a critical thinker, okay? Dig all of it. Thank you for being with me on News Nation, 8 and 11 o'clock at night Eastern. You can find how to follow it here.

We got buttons and stuff. You can find the merch. You can do all that stuff. I really appreciate it. And if you hear anything that sounds like me farting, it isn't. There's construction going on upstairs, okay? And no matter what Greg tells you, it's construction, okay? So here we are on something that we all rely on, we all look to, and to different degrees probably believe in, but it's not real, okay?

And it is luck. Playing ping pong with Mario the other day, my 17 year old, in his estimation, I can't make a shot that's not lucky. If he loses a point, it is luck every time. Hits the corner of the table and goes off, lucky shot. Hits the net, goes over on his side before he can get it, not mine. Lucky. The wind blows. Lucky. Any serve I hit down the middle. Lucky. Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky.

No skill. You suck. You're all luck. Now, you've probably seen this play out in your own life in many different ways. With colleagues or competitors who seem to be doing better than you and you get upset about it. Well, she's just lucky. He's lucky. Let me give you something that's a matter of fact, okay?

There is no such thing as luck unless you define it as follows. Probabilities and chance that can be weighted in one direction or another by action or inaction. Okay? There is no such thing as luck. There is no magic. We seek magic. Why? To ease the frustration with reality.

To ease our frustration with our own limitations and failures and lack of outcomes that we desire. We'd like to put it on something else. And you see that everywhere in our society and in most societies. By the way, hint, it's a big part of our politics and why politicians give you someone else to blame or target for what is going on in your own life that you don't like or giving you something to not like about your own life. As a distraction. This is all a form of magical thinking to give us explanations for things that we don't like or that we can't explain.

Humankind has always been doing this. But I think that this luck thing is a problem. Why? Because I think it gives you an excuse for dealing with outcomes that you could look at a different way. Now, the word luck. Greek comes from to strike by lightning. All right, that should tell you something, okay? to strike by lightning. All right, that should tell you something, okay? That the word itself comes from an understanding of like lightning just striking, the randomness of it, an event

that is propelled by an unexplained set of circumstances, okay? And the first example, rolling double sixes, someone who always seems to be good at craps or always gets the card they make to hit 21. The guy or she even hits on 17 and it works out. She's so lucky at cards. You know what that's called? The gambler's fallacy. Flip the coin. Heads, heads, heads, heads, heads, heads.

What's your bet on the next one? Gotta be tails, right? Wrong. Each outcome is a 50-50 proposition. That is the fact. That is the math. Yeah, but the last nine, each outcome is 50-50. Yeah, but you got nine heads in a row. You're so lucky. No, that is the random distribution of the immutable probabilities involved. Yeah, but he always does.

Every time we shoot, he wins. Well, maybe it's either random, which it is, or two, maybe he knows you or she knows you and knows that you tend to throw two all the time. that you tend to throw too all the time. There is no such thing as luck unless you define it as influencing probabilities with what you do or don't do. Now, we have been dealing with this for a long time. Luck has had a place in humankind since humankind started talking about why things happen. Okay, you can trace it back and it doesn't matter about faith or place or space or race.

It's there and we value it very highly. In fact, we see it as something that you want to have in your life. Now, I do not want magical thinking in my life. I want determination. I want control to the extent I can have it, right? That's a precious commodity. But I do not want to give myself any more reason to believe that it's just going to happen, doesn't really matter, this is just how it is, then I need

to. So if you look at it in another manifestation of it that even I use sometimes, I don't say luck very often. When I do, I try to self-correct. But fortune, I will play with. I'm of the good fortune for this to happen. Now, I think that's kind of a hedge of me trying to play into this virtue signaling that is really bullshit. He had the good fortune to hook up with these three women and start this company that is now. Was it fortune? Was it random? Probably not.

Probably not. And again, we do it to add magic, make possible, makes reality less daunting. Look, no shame in my game. I've been using AG1 for over five years. Why? It works, it's easier, and it's less expensive. That's why. Since 2010, they've been getting their formulations right

and tweaking their formulas. Why? Because the science changes, okay? It's not like politics where people decide to believe one thing and no matter what happens with the facts, they never shift. This is the opposite. Ooh, prebiotics work with probiotics, but in this way. D works with K, and this type of B works with that.

They have the scientists doing it, so I don't need all the bottles, I don't have to spend all the money, and I don't have to figure out when to take what and why. More importantly, it's not just the regular list of vitamins. It's the extras, okay? The adaptogens, the prebiotics, the probiotics that support your body's universal needs. Gut optimization, immune support, stress management. That's what foundational nutrition is about.

stress management. That's what foundational nutrition is about. And these are the people at AG1 who've been doing the work to get it right. Okay. I tell friends, I tell family, I get no complaints. Okay. If you want to take ownership of your health, it starts with AG1. Try AG1. You get a free one year supply of vitamin D3K2 and five free AG1 travel packs. Okay? That's what happens with your first purchase. So make it. Go to drinkag1.com slash CCP. Drinkag1.com slash CCP.

Check it out. We don't fake the funk here. And here's the real talk. it out. We don't fake the funk here. And here's the real talk. Over 40 years of age, 52% of us experience some kind of ED between the ages of 40 and 70. I know it's taboo, it's embarrassing, but it shouldn't be. Thankfully, we now have HIMS, and it's changing the vibe by providing affordable access to ED treatment, and it's all online. HIMS is changing men's health care. Why?

Because it's giving you access to affordable and discreet sexual health treatments, and you do it right from your couch. HIMS provides access to clinically proven generic alternatives to Viagra or Cialis or whatever, and it's up to like 95% cheaper. And their options as low as two bucks a dose. HIMS has hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers. So if ED is getting you down, it's time to pick it up.

Start your free online visit today at HIMS.com slash CCP. H-I-M-S dot com slash CCP. And you will get personalized ED treatment options. HIMS.com slash CCP. Prescriptions, you need an online consultation with a healthcare provider. And they will determine if appropriate. Restrictions apply. You see the website.

You'll get details and important safety information. You're going to need a subscription. It's required. Plus, price is going to vary based on product and subscription plan. Diligence is the mother of good luck. Why? Because you make it happen.

That's why so many people have it tattooed on them. Another one. I am a big believer in luck. And it seems the harder I work, the more luck I have. That's the truth about luck. Preparation meets opportunity. That is luck. opportunity. That is luck. It is not just that the fates or the gods or how the world works and your astrological sign predisposes you to better outcomes in part cheesy than me.

It's not how it works, and it's not how you should want it to work. You don't need magical thinking to have the outcomes you desire. You need the manifestation of those intentions. You need to create your own luck by doing your best to influence the chances, the probabilities, the permutations of outcomes involved in your endeavors. If you do the work, you are increasing the chances that you'll get lucky in that endeavor. Hard work guarantees you nothing but satisfaction with your effort if you put it in. But a lack of hard work, a lack of thought, a lack of right actions, a lack of discernment of your behavior guarantees that you will fuck up and you will have bad luck. You can guarantee that. You cannot guarantee good

outcomes, but you can help yourself. And believing in magical thinking, as long as it goes along with you doing the work to make the magic, that's fine. Because when Steph Curry steps back and launches a moon ball that seems to defy all kinds of probabilities and pass through the hoop without even moving the net, it ain't lucky. It's all the preparation, all his talent, all his grind and practice and the repetition and having lived it so many times and attempted it so many times, all coming together, all these different metrics of probability and influence manifesting themselves in a single outcome. And when it misses or when it goes in, it ain't luck. Unless you define luck as the manifestation of probabilities and your rightful or wrongful actions in pursuit and application of the same. And you shouldn't need more than that.

And you shouldn't rely on more than that because you're setting yourself up for disappointment by taking what you can control out of your hands and putting it into the hands of something else. Even when you say to somebody, they're like, yay, I can't believe I beat you with that move. Oh, you got lucky. Even that, I discourage with one caveat. It's okay to tell somebody that they didn't make something happen because you want them to repeat it, not just out of sour grapes that you got beat

or you don't like the outcome. But it can be a worthy thing to think to yourself that, hey, don't pat yourself on the back too fast that that went your way. It may have gone the right way, even though you didn't do the right things to make that thing happen. You're drunk as a skunk and you're driving home and you just barely missed a tree or a deer or this or that, you didn't get lucky. What happened was the probabilities wound up falling in your favor despite the fact how you stacked the deck against yourself. Count yourself lucky. No, no. But feel in yourself a satisfaction, a state of grace, if you will,

forgiveness that you don't deserve that gives you another chance because it is chance and probabilities and outcomes. Now, I know this and I also, like you, struggle to live it. I will very often take solace in the fact that an outcome that doesn't go my way, especially versus someone else in competition, is about luck. Even when I hear somebody say, ah, this guy, Big C hit a home run, but he was born on third base. Lucky bastard. No, those are the factors and probabilities in the condition structure of his or her life. And maybe they are unseen or ununderstood disadvantages as well. But it's not luck. It's a manifestation of the different conditions and probabilities in that person's situation, in that dynamic that we're measuring or that we're assessing. And when it goes your way, give yourself the credit of what you did to help make that happen and take a look around at what you didn't expect that went into that happening. When it doesn't go your way, don't write it off. Don't pat yourself on the back for things that you had happened to you that are favorable that you didn't do anything to make happen because you should learn from that. When things go wrong, don't think it's just bad luck. Try

to figure out why they went that way and what you have to accept and what you could have controlled differently. Luck is not a property, a function of something real, understandable, definable. definable it's not animal vegetable mineral it's an idea it's a fantasy it's a device that we rely on to help explain things that we don't like or that we don't want to deal with i think you got to be very careful in your life with what you allow to have power over you. Magical thinking has to be kept in its right and limited space because you don't want to get caught up living your life in a way that cedes control when you have agency in the outcome or that puts some kind of power in outcomes that just doesn't exist. The dice are going to fall the way they fall

based on probabilities of outcome that are about math and not magic. So if you want to believe in luck, make your own. Do the work. Think about how you act and don't act. Say and don't say. It's my biggest regret in my life.

And I know regret can have very little profit. But when I look at the things that I don't like and that continue and that haunt, it's about bad luck. No, it's about bad luck no it's about bad choices and you can create better outcomes for yourself by making better choices consistently over time thank you very much for this session that is really as much about me trying to get myself to a better place in space as it is helping you. But if also I can relay something that I've learned or I understand, even if I don't apply it, even if I deny it in my own existence, then all the better for you. So I hope this was of value to you watching the potato on the couch. Subscribe, follow.

Thank you so much for giving News Nation a chance to more and better. My brothers and sisters, take care of yourself and the people around you if you can. I'll see you next time.