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Earn More In One Easy Lesion

More catching up on the news from my vacation brings me to an article from last Thursday's Wall Street Journal. It appears that having a bit of brain damage can make you a better investor.

The benefit appears to be the result of a lesion in the region of the brain that makes a person less sensitive to risk. I figured that would be the case (well, not the lesion part), since risk insensitivity and a willingness to capitalize on the risk aversion of others is a hallmark of the best poker players, who I doubt would appreciate the implication that they are brain damaged.

Regardless, the study should be taken with a heaping helping of salt. Deep in the story the author buried the fact that the "winning" players in the game were not nearly as successful in managing their finances in real life - three of the four brain damaged players had been through a bankruptcy.