Bounce Intl: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Scie

Trading is often about how to take the appropriate risk without exposing yourself to very human flaws.
User avatar
LeTiss
Posts: 5386
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 6:04 pm

That's quite interesting

A few years back (I can't remember where I saw it) a guy left his job for a year to become a professional darts player (even though he'd never played the game).
He was convinced that with 8-10 hours practice a day, he'd be challenging Phil Taylor within 18 months.

I've never heard of him again

It just shows that trading itself is not for everyone, even with the greatest will in the world. I've known people more intelligent than myself totally fall by the wayside in this game
Last edited by LeTiss on Wed Apr 01, 2015 2:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Euler
Posts: 24703
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:39 pm
Location: Bet Angel HQ

Personally I think passion has a lot to do with it. I tried to teach somebody who was devoid of passion for sport and trading and despite showing them exactly what to do and when, they couldn't do it.

The only thing I didn't do was shove wads of cash in their pocket and I came to the judgement that this was the only way they would make money. Passion, drive and desire can make you perform amazing things without it, you can't do a thing.
PeterLe
Posts: 3715
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 3:19 pm

Euler wrote:Can you win at anything if you practise hard enough?
No - ever tried winning an argument with the wife? Even when you win, you lose :D
PeterLe
Posts: 3715
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 3:19 pm

Matthew Syed (Author: Bounce) has a new book out - Black Box thinking (not HF Trading! :D )

Going to download the kindle version to take on my hols
andyfuller
Posts: 4619
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:23 pm

PeterLe wrote:Matthew Syed (Author: Bounce) has a new book out - Black Box thinking (not HF Trading! :D )

Going to download the kindle version to take on my hols
Let us know what it is like please.

A bit about the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGiu6_3u5OY
stueytrader
Posts: 863
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2015 6:47 pm

Great topic.

I've been personally involved in some psychology research in expertise and skill. I think a useful key point is to consider that expertise is relative - practicing may not make you world champion, but it can still make you personally better in performance.

That last point, I think, may be pertinent for our trading aims.
User avatar
Euler
Posts: 24703
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:39 pm
Location: Bet Angel HQ

Bill Gates has some good points on the subject: -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsGihiSE6sM
andyfuller
Posts: 4619
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:23 pm

Thanks for posting - I like the way he explains it in the video.
andyfuller
Posts: 4619
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:23 pm

By coincidence this book is today one of Amazon's Kindle Daily Deals books and is just 99p to buy in Kindle format until midnight:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bounce-Myth-Ta ... 306&sr=1-3
Bluesky
Posts: 420
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2016 9:26 pm

PeterLe wrote:By way of example (if you havent seen it before) : Watch the Youtube clip and concentrate hard on how many passes the white team make.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxUAykZ5e3g
When I read this it reminded me of a PGCE course I was taking many years ago (this was long before youtube was created). Our lecturer showed us a video very similar but not the same to the one PeterLe linked to (the link doesn't work now hopefully this link will work).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4

There were over 30 students in the class some of them really smart cookies with masters degrees and Phds. Every single one of us failed the observation test. The explanation given was that we only see what we expect to see. Anything that is completely out of the ordinary the brain rejects.

If the link above is working and you pass the test (which you might do now after reading the above) show the vid to some friends and see if they get it right, unless they have see it or something very similar before they will not.

I did a ROSPA motorcycling course with a couple of retired police driving instructors a while back and they told me, when a car pulls out of a side junction straight into the path of a motorcycle and a crash ensues. The car driver is telling the truth when they say they did not see the motorcyclist even though the motorcyclist says the car driver looked straight at him (they made eye contact). The reason is, the car driver is looking for other cars or lorries, they are not expecting to see a motor cycle hence the brain does not register there is one approaching. So even though they are looking straight at the motorcyclist and even making eye contact, they are telling the truth when they say they did not see the motorcyclist.

The advice of the two instructors was if a car is approaching a side junction always assume it has not seen you on your bike and assume even though they are looking straight at you they have not.

I have seen posts on here by PW and others saying that they have watched new traders trading and have been amazed that they don't seem to be able to see what is obvious to the experienced trader. I think the new trader is sort of seeing it but the brain isn't regarding it as important and hence is kind of rejecting it. I think it takes a while before this information does become noticeable to most people. Hence why it is probably unrealistic to take a trading course one day, and expect the money to come pouring in the next.
User avatar
Crazyskier
Posts: 1157
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2016 6:36 pm

Bluesky wrote:
PeterLe wrote:
I did a ROSPA motorcycling course with a couple of retired police driving instructors a while back and they told me, when a car pulls out of a side junction straight into the path of a motorcycle and a crash ensues. The car driver is telling the truth when they say they did not see the motorcyclist even though the motorcyclist says the car driver looked straight at him (they made eye contact). The reason is, the car driver is looking for other cars or lorries, they are not expecting to see a motor cycle hence the brain does not register there is one approaching. So even though they are looking straight at the motorcyclist and even making eye contact, they are telling the truth when they say they did not see the motorcyclist.
THINK BIKE! An effective campaign to try to address this issue by bringing the possibility of a biker into focus.
Post Reply

Return to “Trading Psychology”