--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Chance is commonly viewed as a…" description: "\"Chance is commonly viewed as a self-correcting process in which a deviation in one direction induces a deviation in the opposite direction to restore t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ae/amos-tversky-54273_chance_chance-is-commonly-viewed-as-a-self-corr_1958145.png" --- # Chance is commonly viewed as a self-correcting process in… ![“Chance is commonly viewed as a self-correcting process in which a deviation in one direction induces a deviation in the opposite direction to restore the equilibrium. In fact, deviations are not "corrected" as a chance process unfolds, they are merely diluted.” quote by Amos Tversky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ae/amos-tversky-54273_chance_chance-is-commonly-viewed-as-a-self-corr_1958145.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ae/amos-tversky-54273_chance_chance-is-commonly-viewed-as-a-self-corr_1958145.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ae/amos-tversky-54273_chance_chance-is-commonly-viewed-as-a-self-corr_1958145.png) > “Chance is commonly viewed as a self-correcting process in which a deviation in one direction induces a deviation in the opposite direction to restore the equilibrium. In fact, deviations are not "corrected" as a chance process unfolds, they are merely diluted.” [Amos Tversky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-tversky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Chance does not correct deviations; it merely dilutes them, so outcomes drift rather than return to equilibrium. **In simple terms:** Chance dilutes, not corrects, deviations. Key Takeaway Recognize randomness doesn’t guarantee balance. Themes probability randomness equilibrium dilution misconception Mood analytical cautious educational Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - financial markets - weather forecasting - clinical trials - policy making Key Concepts stochastic processes bias correction statistical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How do you account for random drift in planning? - What strategies counteract dilution of errors? A Different Perspective Assuming chance will fix errors can lead to complacency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Equilibrium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equilibrium/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luck/) [Opposites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposites/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) ## Related quotes > [Great steps in human progress are made by things that don't work the way philosophy thought they should. If things always worked the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/great-steps-in-human-progress-are-made-by-things-that-don-t-work-the/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [ Those who regarded the revolution, during Imam Khomeini's time, as a deviation, are now \[wielding\] the tools of terror and oppression ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammad-khatami/those-who-regarded-the-revolution-during-imam-khomeini-s-time-as-a/) [Mohammad Khatami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammad-khatami/) > [Are deviations from full employment a social problem? Obviously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-yellen/are-deviations-from-full-employment-a-social-problem-obviously/) [Janet Yellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-yellen/) > [“Transgression affirms the very rules it intends to flout. Nothing supports the norm like deviation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/transgression-affirms-the-very-rules-it-intends-to-flout-nothing/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [Sport carries on without deviation the mechanical tradition of furnishing relief and distraction to the worker after he has finished his work proper so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/sport-carries-on-without-deviation-the-mechanical-tradition-of/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [If your broker or investment advisor is not familiar with the concept of standard deviation of returns, get a new one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-bernstein/if-your-broker-or-investment-advisor-is-not-familiar-with-the-concept/) [William J. Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-bernstein/) > [Ponder and deliberate before you make your move. He will conquer who has learned the artifice of deviation. Such is the art of maneuvering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/ponder-and-deliberate-before-you-make-your-move-he-will-conquer-who/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [“If you lead me astray, then my wanderings will bring me to my destination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/if-you-lead-me-astray-then-my-wanderings-will-bring-me-to-my/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [To be sane, he held, was either to be sedated by melancholy or activated by hysteria, two responses which were 'always and equally warranted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/to-be-sane-he-held-was-either-to-be-sedated-by-melancholy-or/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [Temporary deviations from fundamental principles are always more or less dangerous. When the first pretext fails, those who become interested in prolonging the evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/temporary-deviations-from-fundamental-principles-are-always-more-or/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Invention is nothing more than a fine deviation from, or enlargement on a fine model . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/invention-is-nothing-more-than-a-fine-deviation-from-or-enlargement/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [I never considered Miles Davis a perfectionist; I always considered him as an excellence-ist, where deviation is actually kind of cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-trotter/i-never-considered-miles-davis-a-perfectionist-i-always-considered/) [Charlie Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-trotter/) > [There's not much room for deviation, yet if you manage to crack it, there then you can express things that actually do sound unique…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brown/there-s-not-much-room-for-deviation-yet-if-you-manage-to-crack-it/) [Rob Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brown/) > [One of the most effective means of seduction that Evil has is the challenge to struggle. It is like the struggle with women, whichends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/one-of-the-most-effective-means-of-seduction-that-evil-has-is-the/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [The world is a bell curve. Classroom test scores, employee performance in a company or how many people really, really like you. No matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sinek/the-world-is-a-bell-curve-classroom-test-scores-employee-performance/) [Simon Sinek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sinek/) ## More by Amos Tversky > [“When you are a pessimist and the bad thing happens, you live it twice. Once when you worry about it, and the second time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-tversky/when-you-are-a-pessimist-and-the-bad-thing-happens-you-live-it-twice/) [Amos Tversky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-tversky/) > [Whenever there is a simple error that most laymen fall for, there is always a slightly more sophisticated version of the same problem that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-tversky/whenever-there-is-a-simple-error-that-most-laymen-fall-for-there-is/) [Amos Tversky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-tversky/) > [“For all we know, the handwriting might have been on the wall all along. The question is: was the ink invisible?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-tversky/for-all-we-know-the-handwriting-might-have-been-on-the-wall-all-along/) [Amos Tversky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-tversky/) > [“He who sees the past as surprise-free is bound to have a future full of surprises.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-tversky/he-who-sees-the-past-as-surprise-free-is-bound-to-have-a-future-full/) [Amos Tversky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-tversky/) > [It's frightening to think that you might not know something, but more frightening to think that, by and large, the world is run by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-tversky/it-s-frightening-to-think-that-you-might-not-know-something-but-more/) [Amos Tversky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-tversky/) [Explore all 6 Amos Tversky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-tversky/) ## More Chance quotes > [Before I debuted, it was my goal to make my debut, and afterwards, I aimed at winning champion titles on television music shows, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hyuna/before-i-debuted-it-was-my-goal-to-make-my-debut-and-afterwards-i/) [Hyuna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hyuna/) > [I understand it's promotion, but no one ever gave me a chance. No one ever thought I'd be the champ, and look where I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stipe-miocic/i-understand-it-s-promotion-but-no-one-ever-gave-me-a-chance-no-one/) [Stipe Miocic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stipe-miocic/) > [I might, by chance, write something just as shoddy; But then I wouldn't show it to everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/i-might-by-chance-write-something-just-as-shoddy-but-then-i-wouldn-t/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [The happy medium is television. And if you find a good suitor, you can do it for years. With movies, you roll the dice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-campbell/the-happy-medium-is-television-and-if-you-find-a-good-suitor-you-can/) [Bruce Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-campbell/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I have heard that if you pull a bent breath through the second hole of a harmonica tuned to the key of Georgia while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-wakefield/i-have-heard-that-if-you-pull-a-bent-breath-through-the-second-hole/) [Buddy Wakefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-wakefield/) > [There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. But a knob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-times-when-we-can-feel-destiny-close-around-us-like-a-fist/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Pain held no terror for him. Pain was, if not friend, then family, something he had grown up with in his crèche, learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-bacigalupi/pain-held-no-terror-for-him-pain-was-if-not-friend-then-family/) [Paolo Bacigalupi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-bacigalupi/) > [Love changes people, for better or for worse. You could look at it as a chance for you to change. The best kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-changes-people-for-better-or-for-worse-you-could-look-at-it-as-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It's not who, it's when”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-taubas/it-s-not-who-it-s-when/) Alejandro Taubas > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I thought my first few jobs would just be off, off, off, off, off broadway. And by chance and how the world works, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-dorfman/i-thought-my-first-few-jobs-would-just-be-off-off-off-off-off/) [Tommy Dorfman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-dorfman/) > [If you’re worrying about the past, you’ve got a good chance of screwing up the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-a-tullman/if-you-re-worrying-about-the-past-you-ve-got-a-good-chance-of/) [Howard A. Tullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-a-tullman/) > [To be successful, one must take chances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-stargell/to-be-successful-one-must-take-chances/) [Willie Stargell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-stargell/) [Browse all 12,460 Chance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Chance is commonly viewed as a self-correcting process in which a deviation in one direction induces a deviation in the opposite direction to restore the equilibrium. 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