The Random Factor

How Chance and Luck Profoundly Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-0-520-39096-6
Verlag: University of California

Buch, Englisch, 302 Seiten, Cloth Over Boards, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 232 mm, Gewicht: 546 g

A poverty expert reveals how truly random the world is—including how economic inequality is experienced—and how we can learn to acknowledge chance and appreciate it.

It’s comforting to think that we can be successful because we work hard, climb ladders, and get what we deserve, but each of us has been profoundly touched by randomness. Chance is shown to play a crucial role in shaping outcomes across history, throughout the natural world, and in our everyday lives. In The Random Factor, Mark Robert Rank draws from a wealth of evidence, including interviews and research, to explain how luck and chance play out and reveals how we can use these lessons to guide our personal lives and public policies.

The Random Factor traverses luck from macro to micro, from events like the Cuban Missile Crisis to our personal encounters and relationships. From his perspective as a scholar of poverty, Rank also delves into the class and race dynamics of chance, emphasizing the stark disparities it brings to light. This transformative book prompts a new understanding of the twists and turns in our daily lives and encourages readers to fully appreciate the surprising world of randomness in which we live.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Rank, Mark Robert

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Kognitionspsychologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Freizeitsoziologie, Konsumsoziologie, Alltagssoziologie, Populärkultur
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Management Entscheidungsfindung
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Populärkultur
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Sozialpsychologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents

1 The Wheel of Fortune

I. The World Around Us
2 The Arc of History

3 The Natural World

4 Luck in Everyday Life

II. The Patterns of Our Lives
5 The Lottery of Birth

6 Who, What, Where, and When

7 Shortcuts, Detours, and Forks in the Road

III. Lessons Learned
8 Retooling Policies

9 Reflecting and Assessing
10 Our Unpredictable Companion

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Mark Robert Rank is Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare at Washington University in St. Louis. He has received numerous awards for his scholarship and books, and his research has been reported in a wide range of national and international media.