yeap, you are 100% correct

Plus, it’s not anecdotal AND goes beyond your statement.

Through the years and statistical analysis, it has been proven that picking stock, even by professionals is still mostly luck. I think analysts have ran out of ridiculous examples of animals picking stock randomly and still coming on top in a long enough time period.

So if even the “professionals” are not really doing much, why would any individual nurture the thought that THEY could do better?

https://unwall.app/www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2012/12/20/any-monkey-can-beat-the-market/

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/01/14/169326326/housecat-beats-investors-in-stock-market-challenge

https://acquirersmultiple.com/2018/04/daniel-kahneman-the-illusion-of-stock-picking-skill/

who can afford the best analysts and mathematical models on top of their market influence.

Why bother with that when you can just do a little inside trading during the next child raping party?