PEOPLE are not born lucky; luck is something that just happens to them. This is what scientists have discovered after extensive research related to luck and associated factors. A team of researchers from Bristol University studied 14,000 individuals from childhood to adulthood. They documented a number of phases in the individuals’ lives including how they dealt with problems and how they managed either to succeed or to fail.

One of the professors who was involved in the project for 30 years found that luck does not simply happen but that it depends upon circumstances, the individual’s vision and behavior. The results of the study seemed to indicate that people are divided into two groups. The first is deeply convinced that luck is a key factor in success so they depend blindly upon it. Not surprisingly, that group contains many failures.

The other group believes that things can be changed and also improved as far as possible. To that end, they dedicate a great deal of their time to changing, and at least trying to improve, what exists. These are the successful people and they are the ones who are known as the lucky ones. In other words, there are positive and negative attitudes, positive and negative mentalities and, of course, positive and negative people.

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THE British Broadcasting Corporation conducted an Internet poll to learn who is the century’s best movie star or film actor. There was a long list of famous performers but the winner was the Indian actor, Amitabh Bachchan. The result was not only a surprise in film-making circles but to those who participated in the poll as well.

There is no doubt that the Indian actor is indeed one of the world’s outstanding actors; he has an unbelievable number of fans and has starred in hundreds of successful films, from the 1960s up to the present. The surprising thing is that the Indian actor came out ahead of such Hollywood stars as Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Lawrence Olivier, James Dean, John Wayne, Charlie Chaplain and Marlon Brando.

When asked about this, the Indian actor replied, "It seems obvious that the one billion Indians were active in the poll. I don’t think, for example, that I am a better actor than Marlon Brando."

This kind of answer deserves recognition for being so frank and honest. The media of course had two different opinions. One was that the Indian deserved the honor and the other was that he did not. Both were in agreement, however, that he had won the poll.

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LBC, the Lebanese TV station, regularly features intellectuals, artists, poets, politicians and public figures. One of the latest programs featured Fouad Rifqah. He told the story of his migration as a very young man to Germany; his motivation was education rather than money. He is now 70 but seems to enjoy good health and has many interesting things to say. "I arrived in Germany and went straight to a language school. German is not an easy language so I had to work hard and take some intensive courses. It was not easy but in about four months, I got a job and continued to work and study. I found that I really loved philosophy so I decided to study it. I wrote my doctoral thesis on Martin Heidegger, the world-famous philosopher. I really enjoy studying philosophy but that does not mean I am a philosopher. The truth is that a philosopher must be well-versed in both religion and science and should also be a person of rare perception but I lack that quality."

I watched this philosopher with great admiration and I asked myself how many others are there in the Arab world who can speak so logically without exaggerating or claiming that they know everything? If there are any, why are our governments not utilizing people of that caliber who have so much knowledge, education and experience. It is not even necessary that these individuals hold official positions but that they exert their influence as consultants, advisers or in think tanks.