

Which would you pick? A million dollars or the skills to get to the million? - askaaronlee

If someone put a million dollars in cash in front of you and he gave you two choice.&lt;p&gt;Pick the million dollars, or pick to learn the skills to get to that million dollars.&lt;p&gt;While it makes sense to pick skill, would you give up the million dollars so easily? :)
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brd
I'd say that most of the HN community has enough "skill" to make a million
dollars. Unfortunately, skill is only part of the equation.

On the other hand, having a million dollars provides a significant amount of
runway and/or working capital which is (arguably) more rare than skill.

So I'd argue that a million dollars is a far better asset than the skill to
earn a million dollars. A million dollars can more readily earn you another
million, it can afford you time to learn whatever skills you might be
interested in and it also provides you with the alternative option of never
bothering to focusing your effort on making money.

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nicholas73
If I had a million dollars, I'd have time to develop skill to the next
million. No brainer decision for me.

For most people the decision should be easy as well, as a million is life
changing money, whereas skill entails risk.

The question might be better as, insta-100k or a chance for a million (skill).

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mprny
I'd rather be lucky than good. One million dollars please.

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maaku
> While it makes sense to pick the skill...

Why does it make any sense to pick the skill? My goal in life is not to make
money, it is to do things which mostly unfortunately require money. A million
dollars would be a life-changing amount of money, and I could get started on
the _real_ things I want to do with my life in the mean time.

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personlurking
If the skills came with a guarantee that you would get to that million dollar
mark in a certain amount of time then it becomes more interesting. Also, one
can be average in their ability to do something, so it'd have to be about
fluency in said skill(s).

Stil, I'm not sure which at this moment.

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msie
I'll take the million. Lots of skilled people out there who are not
millionaires.

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krapp
You know what makes it a lot easier to learn how to make a million dollars?

Already having a million dollars.

Not having to keep a steady job or worry about housing or food for a while
amounts to a lot of study time.

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deepakkapoor
The choice here is between something tangible i.e. million dollars or skills
to get a million dollars i.e. a promise which may or may not be fulfilled at
some time in future. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

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pcharles
The mil

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davidsmith8900
\- The million dollars.

