Short talk: Prof. Richard Wiseman's Surname Experiment

The Luck Factor describes how lucky people have much broader social networks than others, and how this increases the likelihood of them experiencing lucky encounters.

Prof. Richard Wiseman's experiment named "Surname- experiment" was based upon the idea briefly mentioned by American journalist Malcolm Gladwell in his book. Gladwell carried out an informal study in which he presented people with a list of surnames and asked them to indicate if they know people with that surname.

Prof. Richard Wiseman used this idea as a basis for a questionnaire that could quantify the relationship between luck and social connectivity.

First of all people were asked to classify as lucky, unlucky or neutral they are. Then they were presented with a list of 15 common British surnames and asked to indicate at least one name to each surname.

The results showed the huge relationship between luck and social connectivity. Almost 50 per cent of lucky people ticked 8 or more names to surnames.