Trading by myself - how feasible is it to make a living at it?

[Dale Dough]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I really don't want to google it because, well, vested interest that doesn't align with mine, and all.

I would have to start pretty much from scratch. I majored in business and wrote my bachelor thesis on a finance subject, but that's it. I currently do not own any stocks, although I do plan to buy some index funds as an investment. I have read threads here and have some recommended books coming to me from Amazon.

I always had some kind of Ponzi-scheme attitude towards professional daytraders - some get lucky, but most people fail, and the big ones make their money on commission, and are not necessarily more +EV than the market. Then I realized that I would probably think the same about card players if I was a layman. And I managed to do that - so why not trading?

Would an approach similar to poker work? Ie. start out with a little bit and go from there, picking up skills along the way? Or do I need to be backed by algorithms developed by theoretical physicists to have a chance?

What would be my best source of information - is there like a 2+2 of day traders? I mean I'm sure there are lots of forums, but I probably couldn't tell the difference between 2+2 and FCP if I knew nothing about poker.