--- title: The Reasons We Deny Luck: It Is Not Meaningful Enough description: Luck has a big impact on our search for meaning canonical: https://time.com/3959274/deny-luck-reasons/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-22T11:00:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:36:16.201Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Reasons We Deny the Role of Luck og:description: Luck has a big impact on our search for meaning og:url: https://time.com/3959274/deny-luck-reasons/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7688d1c99d129fda/69885b08196cf43ab50371d9/hand-throwing-dice.jpg?branch=production&width=507&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 507 og:image:height: 285 og:image:alt: hand-throwing-dice og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Reasons We Deny the Role of Luck twitter:description: Luck has a big impact on our search for meaning twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7688d1c99d129fda/69885b08196cf43ab50371d9/hand-throwing-dice.jpg?branch=production&width=507&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Reasons We Deny the Role of Luck > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Jul 22, 2015 11:00 AM UTC  Five dice Five dice Getty Images by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Jul 22, 2015 11:00 AM UTC One of the reasons that we deny the role of luck is that it acts as a cold counterbalance to the notion of hard work. At every stage in our lives we are taught that the best way to make our way in the world is by hard work, tenacity, and grit. And while I believe there is a lot of truth to this, it also causes some perverse consequences. For instance, when we’re successful, we’re hesitant or even ashamed to admit that luck played a role because we somehow feel that diminishes what was under our control. Conversely, if we’re hit with bad luck, it’s culturally reinforced that that was our own fault. We’re led to believe that we’re responsible for outcomes not process, when in fact just the opposite is true. We are culturally conditioned to deny the role of luck because of its impact on our search for meaning. In [How to Get Lucky](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1906659982/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1906659982&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=QIY4GXAAJQ6QV2C2), Max Gunther explains: --- > “” --- This is the “tragic flaw” theory — nothing bad ever happens because of luck but rather because people deserve it. [How to Get Lucky](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1906659982/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1906659982&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=QIY4GXAAJQ6QV2C2) goes on to explore 13 ways to improve your luck. **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/04/deny-luck/)**_._** **Join over 60,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3959274/deny-luck-reasons/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3959274/deny-luck-reasons/"},"headline":"The Reasons We Deny the Role of Luck","datePublished":"2015-07-22T11:00:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:36:16.201Z","description":"Luck has a big impact on our search for meaning","url":"https://time.com/3959274/deny-luck-reasons/","keywords":["Psychology","Fortune"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7688d1c99d129fda/69885b08196cf43ab50371d9/hand-throwing-dice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7688d1c99d129fda/69885b08196cf43ab50371d9/hand-throwing-dice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"hand-throwing-dice","caption":"hand-throwing-dice","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3959274/deny-luck-reasons/","name":"The Reasons We Deny the Role of Luck"}}]}] ```