The desire to feel like we’re in control seems to be a very basic human need. Are you in control?  Do you like to control your environment? Well?  Were you successful in that endeavour?  C’mon, be honest. Because—Control—is an illusion! Let me give you an example from Singapore: You choose a durian from a street vendor which tastes delicious, so you assume that you are very skilled at selecting durian (when in fact, the whole batch just happens to be good). Here’s another example: You play the lottery and win millions.  Therefore, you assume that this is (partly) the result of how good your— lucky—numbers are, even though lotteries are totally random and cannot be influenced by the numbers you chose.  But despite knowing and accepting this, you still think that the numbers you choose matter.  More on this later. This illusion is strengthened by stressful and competitive situations, including that of financial trading; although people are more prone to overestimate their control, when the situations ......