Is there such a thing as luck?

[jimkopelli]

Your thoughts, please.

[Vagabond]

Oh yes. I resisted the idea for years 'cause it didn't make much sense, but I guess I kind of pissed it (luck) off and decided to prove its existence to me. Not in the good godmother-fairy way, as you might guess.

[HairlessBluetick]

Well, its my inclinination to say no. But since I for some reason have what most people would call extroardinary GOOD luck, who knows. I know there's another, more logical reason for it, but its more fun to just say I have good luck. And it pisses other people off, too.

[Hunter]

In my experience Captain Solo there's no such thing as luck.

Hard to say...though I think I had extraordinary good luck when I replied to a certain e-mail sent by a certain Donnie Darko fan...

[HairlessBluetick]

OH geez. Now I have to change my avatar. :-p

[jittus rye]

Luck is in the mind, and sometimes things aren't just affected by chance so it seems you're actually getting lucky but in reality, you're not. But it is always nice to say, wow, I sure am lucky. Therefore I am going to vote Yes although I can't think of an instance of luckiness for myself.

[jimkopelli]

I think it's kinda like a bell curve of how things turn out. Large amounts of low magnitude good and bad luck, with the largest single amount on neutral. Then you get a very small amount of really, really good luck and a like amount of really, really bad. I think it all averages out in any given person's life.

[Avengardh]

I find it more of an spiritual thing...but that's as much as I will say about that.

But I believe there is ^^ I've been an offspring of it.

[paladinoflunaria]

Nope, unless if you define luck to be the probability curve screwing with you (aka Murphy's Law).

[Utopmk]

Ask Vagabond, she was on a lucky streak in trivia, the other day.

[NGene]

No, I don't think "luck" exists. Nor does "chance." There are no such things, they're just names applied to certain incidences that happen at a moment that seems to give meaning to them.

I believe all incidents lead to certain consequences. If you don't know enough about a certain incident, you may not be able to know its possible consequences, in which case you talk about a chance. If the consequences happen to be very favorable, you're talking about luck.

I'll give an example.

You decide to go to work using road A. The consequence is that you'll be at spot X at a certain moment. You're also thinking about an old friend of yours you miss but haven't met in a long time. These two things have nothing to do with each other, except that they occur at the same time.

The old friend of yours also decides to use the same road. The consequence is that he'll be at spot X exactly at the same time as you are. But you don't know it beforehand.

Now, the natural consequence is that you will both be at spot X at the same time and meet each other. There's nothing mystical with this. But, since you didn't know beforehand the friend was going to go down that particular road that particular time, you say you've met by chance.

Now, you both are really glad to have met each other by "chance," because you both used to be very good friends but lost each other's contact info. You also remember that you were thinking about this particular friend when you walked down the road. All these things happened simultaneously, you weren't able to predict the consequences of them, but the consequence was favorable to both you and your old friend. You think you were really lucky to have met each other.

So, "chance" and "luck" are just names given to certain parallel incidences, nothing more.

[Vagabond]

Ask Vagabond, she was on a lucky streak in trivia, the other day.
:D
I still regret not going for a lottery or something when my luck was still high... ;)

[Johnny]

As long as there is the (as-yet or otherwise) unknown, luck shall remain alive and well...except perhaps for Old Ben, who had the force at his side and had to live with knowing when and how he would "die" and become stronger than Vader could possibly imagine...:D

[Misazeno]

No because everything happen for a reason

[ApeTheDog]

Yes. Luck is a concept - of course it exists. Luck is when something fortunate happens to you for which the odds of it happening were small.

Can you 'make your own luck' - no. Do things balance out? No - pretty much anything mystical that tries to make luck into something that isn't random anymore, I don't believe in. I could be wrong - but my explanation that luck cannot be influenced makes a lot more sense to me than the one that it can be forced. So the chances of them being wrong are higher.

Of course... they could always get lucky.

[Misazeno]

This thread is so old, it's from the stone age. I like being a necro sometimes lol

[CosmicDust]

If you consider "luck" to mean the sum of factors beyond your control or the control of any known sentient being (assuming the non-existence or uncertainty of existence of God) then yes, there is luck, IMO. Even the sphere of your control is influenced by factors beyond your control. I was lucky, for instance, to be born a middle-class American in a not-too-dysfunctional family.

However, I don't believe in the power of lucky charms and superstitions. I don't consider luck to be a supernatural thing.

I just read someone's claim that things happen for a reason...I don't believe that.

[Leftfield]

I think it's kinda like a bell curve of how things turn out. Large amounts of low magnitude good and bad luck, with the largest single amount on neutral. Then you get a very small amount of really, really good luck and a like amount of really, really bad. I think it all averages out in any given person's life.

Agreed... I tend to think it balances itself out in the end, if not for each person then society as a whole will be a zero-sum game with its unintended/unplanned hits and misses.

I think of it like a game of poker. Such that the talented will always play better but a "bad beat" or bad luck can catch people sometimes. Therefore, it does exist.

[Master O]

I believe there is a lifeforce or life energy in the universe. it has a certain rhythm. i believe good luck occurs the more we are in sync with it. the more you resist, the more difficult (or unlucky) your life will be. being in sync is like putting a raft in a river and just going with the current only correcting your course when necessary - it's relatively easy. being out of sync is like trying to dam the river or even trying to force your raft against the current - it's possible for a while, but requires an enormous and exhausting amount of effort and if a mistake is made, it can be catastrophic.

basically, it comes down to decision making: making smart choices, picking the right battles, being fair, not resisting that which can benefit you due to fear or greed or sloth, not taking things for granted.

this may sound like it involves judgement based on morality, but that's not what i believe. to me it is about common sense and an attitude of 'live and let live', and having an open mind and not being rigid.

"Go with the flow" rings particularly true with me. Good things happen in the 'flow'. It's where you want to be. That is not to be confused with, however, the 'flow' that society or another human would impose on you. It is the energy of the universe with which you should be aligned, not society's. It flows through society but is not created by society.

[Master O]

Yes. Luck is a concept - of course it exists. Luck is when something fortunate happens to you for which the odds of it happening were small.

Can you 'make your own luck' - no. Do things balance out? No - pretty much anything mystical that tries to make luck into something that isn't random anymore, I don't believe in. I could be wrong - but my explanation that luck cannot be influenced makes a lot more sense to me than the one that it can be forced. So the chances of them being wrong are higher.

Of course... they could always get lucky. In relation to my post above, I don't believe that you can create your own luck - not exactly. It's more about being in the right place at the right time. If you go where the good stuff is, you're more likely to come away with good stuff.