Paying of credit cards, maximising your tax return, investing in things you 100% understand, way easier ways to make money.
People still might get lucky and make epic money, but it is in the same zip code as driving drunk and not getting into a crash.
The rest of your post notwithstanding, this is a moderately common misconception. Most drunk driving does not result in crashes, and that's part of the danger -- after dozens of successful trips you might delude yourself into thinking you're somehow able to overcome the reduced reflexes and whatnot, but as soon as anything atypical hits the road (like a family crossing) you probably won't be able to respond adequately.
Well, most of us (myself included) "invest" in a 401(k) that we don't really understand that well, but common wisdom is that this is still the best way to save for retirement.
Because the tax advantage on the account makes it so largely irregardless of how well you understand it.
Also the options available are generally quite limited so that a) even if you did understand it you wouldn't have much choice within the tax advantaged account, and b) your choices are largely constrained to relatively safe index funds.