Star Trek TNG (Peak Performance) Picard Quote - It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose.
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN uses it as a quip or shorthand to illustrate that randomness and circumstance can decide outcomes regardless of skill.
What it is
A very short clip from Star Trek: The Next Generation's 'Peak Performance' in which Picard says it is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. It is a single quotable moment about how outcomes are not fully in your control.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2022 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Cites godelski · 2025-12 · on “A new myth appeared during the presidential campaign of Andrew Jackson”
> people who do super extraordinary things are extraordinary themselves Nothing I said contradicts this. I even agree. The problem is the inverse. You imply that people who do not do extraordinary things are not themselves extraordinary. You can be extraordinary but shit out of luck. You can't rise to the top by just being the best, you also need and the right support. Take for example any startup. Good luck getting to scale without that. Eventually someone needs to take a chance on you. This is something VCs even know. They invest broadly because a small percentage will be big hits. It's because things fall along a power distribution rather than a normal. The upside is unbounded. Most will