Friday the 13th Lucky or Unlucky?

If luck doesn't exist, then how do you call someone who wins the lottery?
A statistical minority :)

If luck doesn't exist, then how do you call someone who wins the lottery?

on the phone?

If luck doesn't exist, then how do you call someone who wins the lottery?

on the phone?

I prefer to camp out in front of their house till they pay me to go away... :wink:

my favorite quote on the existance of luck was by the golfer Gary Player when he paraphrased Thomas Jefferson.
"The more i practice , the luckier i get"

but as to one day being more lucky than another, i think any day spent above ground would be a lucky one.

If luck doesn't exist, then how do you call someone who wins the lottery?
A statistical minority :)

Yup. And when a certain positive event, which is totally beyond your control, makes you a statistical minority then we say you were lucky, as the fact that you and not someone else is part of that minority is based solely on external and non-transparant procedures, which, when combined, define 'luck' just fine.

Or to get it back to Springsteen: his skills might not be influenced a whole lot by luck, the fact that he was born in a part of the world where he could build a big career out of those skills is. He could talk the celeb-philosophy-crap all day long but the very definition of luck prevents anyone from influencing it, as luck is merely another word for external factors that could or could not benefit you. But hey, he has to protect that 'strong, confident and positive' image and saying he was lucky at times won't work there. Right? Right... :roll:

Um...

"In my expereince, there's no such thing as luck." You want to argue with Obi-Wan Kenobi? Be-my-guest.

Thanks, but no, I don't need to argue with him. I just checked MW's dictionary:

"Luck: the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual."

We know there are individuals, we know there are events and circumstances, we know that some of them operate either for or against an. individual. As such there is absolutely no way anyone can seriously and totally deny the existence of luck, unless he/she is either ignorant in this matter or downright stupid in general. In Obi's case I guess it would be ignorance: he never seemed quite able to grasp the basics of the English language anyway.

Wrong character, Arjen.....Yoda was it basics the english of language who of could grasp not the......

:D :D :D

Vic

PS as to whether friday 13th's an unlucky day....Maggie Thatcher was born on the 13th October - I rest my case......

Haha, you're right, I've always had problems remembering the names of aliens. :D

Language is the nub of it all anyway... People generally use the word luck figuratively, not literally. When they say "that was lucky" they mean "chances of this happening were slim" or "we would have been in trouble is that had happened", as opposed to "I told you avoiding black cats, brooms, broken mirrors, ladders etc. would make something good happen/some thing bad not happen".

Nothing quite like getting lucky.

i guess you're right Arjen, unless i'm "ignorant or downright stupid in general" you have definately convinced me that the word "luck" exists. :roll:

[
the fact that he was born in a part of the world where he could build a big career out of those skills is. He could talk the celeb-philosophy-crap all day long but the very definition of luck prevents anyone from influencing it, as luck is merely another word for external factors that could or could not benefit you. But hey, he has to protect that 'strong, confident and positive' image and saying he was lucky at times won't work there. Right? Right... :roll:

On the other side of the world, I disagree. The fact that Springsteen was born in New Jersey in the 50's had absolutely no influence on his success. Absolutely none. He practiced. He put out. You're view is so cynical! Springsteen was not lucky. Anyone who accepts the definition of luck, accepts that the world is chaotic and without causation; (ever wonder why all the philosophy students are teenagers? Or little twenty-somethings?) Let's get back to practicing. I wouldn't want to think that I was lucky when tomorrow, I played "Yesterday" without any screwups...........................Right? Right...

GR

Ghost Rider: You are using hope and wishes are arguments. Luck is not something to believe in or not, it is an existing word with an existing definition that can be easily verified for accuracy.

"I wouldn't want to think that I was lucky when tomorrow, I played "Yesterday" without any screwups."

As I said: some things are influenced by 'luck', others aren't. Springsteen could practice all he want, which is (to keep it simple) not very much influenced by luck. However, had he been born in Zimbabwe, or been born with only one hand and four legs, he would have had a tough time finding a record contract. Heck, if he'd been really unlucky he'd been born in 1850 when there were no electric guitars. So he had to work hard *and* be lucky.

As for the students: ever wonder why EVERY student is usually young? Well, that's because older people are supposed to get a job and actually do something. I think that goes for nearly every educational system in the world.

"Anyone who accepts the definition of luck, accepts that the world is chaotic and without causation"

Chaos and causation have little to do with the official definition of luck: luck and chaos are merely words describing our inability to perceive causality and it's underlying statistical principles. By the way, I don't think my view is particularly cynical, that would imply I have some deep and general distrust about humam's and their motives. I think the more accurate descriptions would be either 'realistic' 'logical' or 'pessimistic', depending on how you look at it.

the idea that the world is not chaotic has a chaotic element to me. why are there rules? why are there patterns? there could be no patterns if the universe were different. is the fact that we have rules arbitrary?
does it matter?