And in this sense, gambling can probably even be compared to some extent with a very strict and unforgiving teacher.
And by the way, many of us probably remember our teachers who were really strict, but also fair. I even think that any person, becoming an adult, often remembers just such teachers who really taught him something useful in life and taught him well becaase of rigor and fairness.
I think that gambling can be considered a strict and fair teacher in a broad philosophical sense.
To a great extend, I agree with you, we can as well also compare or liken gambling to life itself, and this because life is a brutal and unforgiving teacher, life is ready to teach a man as many times as he or she needs to learn, and she doesn't care how much you have lost, or how difficult the lesson is, she will continue to you brutally without mercy until you learn.
Same also is gambling, for a gambler who fail to properly learn how to participate in gambling without getting involved in problems, such a gambler will keep encountering problems in gambling until he or she learns to gamble responsibly.
Though it's true, it's unfortunate that a lot of people are so stubborn that they don't stop until they ruin their lives and lose everything because of gambling, or get themselves stuck in a circle of loan repayments because of borrowing a lot of money for their gambling activities. They only realize their mistakes after it's all over for them, and they don't have anywhere to go anymore and that's why they can't continue to gamble as there are no funds for that.
A human being is created with a mind, that gives it the ability to think and understand things, but it ignores everything that comes in front of it only to continue doing what is ruining them slowly. I feel very sad for people who don't learn when they make a mistake for the first time or the first few times.