How Important Is A "Profit"

[Count Room]

I knew Frank Borman well... very well... from my years in Miami when I was with WTVJ and he was Chairman of Eastern. First professionally, and then personally. If I could have picked who I wanted to be my father I would have picked Frank Borman -- that's how much I loved him. When the LA Business Journal did a profile of me and asked me who I admired most -- I said Frank Borman. Frank Borman was robbed of greatness by the Machinists Union at Eastern Airlines. Borman -- if not for the labor strife that ultimately killed the airline (and other airlines too) -- could have gone on to a Cabinet post or even the White House. He was a national hero who literally was run into a brick wall.

Sorry to say I had never heard of Frank Borman until you mentioned him. Even though he is old enough to be my grandfather, he does seem like an inspirational guy.

Why is it that I've heard of spacefarers such as Neil Armstrong or Sally Ride, but not Frank Borman?

I would suspect it has something to do with the term "Survivor Bias". One simple failure that keeps you off the front page of the news media can doom you to relative obscurity forever.

(LINK) A Long, but Interesting Blog Article Explaining Survivorship Bias in Full with Solid Real-Life Examples

SUPER-SIMPLE EXAMPLE OF SURVIVOR BIAS FOR THE IMPATIENT GAMBLER: My neighbor once told me an amusing truism about casino gambling, "You see all those big jackpot winners on the winners wall, but you never hear about the bankruptcies and suicides...Those just disappear.."
That is survivor bias in a nutshell: The jackpot winners are the much-publicized "survivors" while the much bigger crowds that fail become completely invisible. You don't see giant news articles saying 200 million people bought LOSING tickets for some huge Powerball jackpot, do you?