Luck: Imaginary Concept or Tangible Scientific Fact?

I'll state right off the bat that I am not sure one way or the other, but there is no denying the value we humans place on luck. Everytime someone buys a lottery ticket, or places a bet in a casino, they are hoping to get "lucky". Anytime someone survives a horrendous ordeal or accident, we think about how "lucky" he or she was. This concept called Luck is part of the human condition. But is it real or is it just fantasy? First question we have to ask is just what is Luck?

luck luhk

noun

1. the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities: With my luck I'll probably get pneumonia.
   
   
2. good fortune; advantage or success, considered as the result of chance: He had no luck finding work.
   
   
3. a combination of circumstances, events, etc., operating by chance to bring good or ill to a person: She's had nothing but bad luck all year.
   
   
4. some object on which good fortune is supposed to depend: This rabbit's foot is my luck.
   

Source.

We all know somebody who just seems to be luckier that others around him or her. That friend who always seems to be at the right place at the right time. The one who seemingly could eat rotten meat and it would only make them fart rainbows! So what makes some people luckier than others? Here's one explanation:



OK, so some people are lucky because they look for, and are open to possibilities. This explains some forms of luck, but then there are others. One possible scientific explanation is a mathematical concept called Chance:

What we call luck, the scientist calls chance. One of the reasons people may doubt the power of The Secret is because of their belief in a world governed by chance. Science teaches us that the world is governed by mechanical laws and unpredictable chance occurrences. Science studies the factors or causes for each type of event. Wherever it cannot find a cause or predict an outcome from the causes it has identified, it attributes the outcome to chance. Scientific philosopher Karl Popper argues that it is impossible to prove the existence of chance scientifically. When scientists refer to the action of chance, what they really mean is that they do not know the laws that are operative or the precise conditions under which those laws are working, and therefore they observe what appears to be random behavior. The roll of the dice appears to be chance because we do not have sufficient knowledge to predict the outcome. So our perception of chance really reflects a lack of knowledge.

Source.

I have a friend, one of the 'fart rainbows' type, whom luck always seems to favor. One pastime that we both share is playing poker. Now we both have very similar playing styles as we both have read the same books and such, but he consistently gets better cards than I do. Added to that, he has a tremendous streak of hitting it on the slots, which are set against you. The only explanation I have for this is that maybe the electomagnetic field generated by our bodies somehow affects this thing called chance and that is where Luck comes in. Is this what makes some people luckier than others? Is it personality? Is it a combination of the two? Does one cause the other? Or is it all just an imaginary concept with no real basis in reality... just pure chance?

Good OP, and yep, your friend seems to attract the luck, but could it be.... that its exactly the same amount of luck you get, and for some psychological reason, you're just saying he is luckier?

Could it be fantasy here?

I get lucky hands on the poker tables, but sometimes it can be a subconscious thing, he can't play 'exactly' like you, quite impossible, perhaps he's a better player?

I've wondered about this subject too. I never seem to win a coin toss, and if there are two light switches in an unfamiliar dark room, the first one I pick always turns on the fan. For me, a "50/50 chance", isn't.

My brother, on the other hand, has winning streaks in poker and board games; the dice always seem to favor him. I dunno about him farting rainbows(do rainbows make you roll down the car window to keep from puking?)

We have had this argument, ongoing for years. Interestingly, he says it's "all about the odds". In other words, the guy with all the luck, doesn't believe it's luck.

reply to post by Im a Marty


Actually, I'm the better player...

Originally posted by JaxonRoberts
I'll state right off the bat that I am not sure one way or the other, but there is no denying the value we humans place on luck. Everytime someone buys a lottery ticket, or places a bet in a casino, they are hoping to get "lucky". Anytime someone survives a horrendous ordeal or accident, we think about how "lucky" he or she was. This concept called Luck is part of the human condition. But is it real or is it just fantasy? First question we have to ask is just what is Luck?

This is not something that can be proved.. it is a matter of what one is willing to a accept as true.
It is an imagined concept for those who do not accept the fact that the Creator upholds all things..

"Bad luck—nothing for something—Good luck—something for nothing. (950.5) 86:1.3

Luck is merely a term coined to cover the inexplicable in any age of human existence; it designates those phenomena which men are unable or unwilling to penetrate." - Urantia

cool writeup i enjoyed it.

to me luck is a skill already possessed.

its like shooting skeet I was a natural took to it right away hit the clay 9 out of ten on my first try out when i was young.
thats a prime example of skill already possessed.

when it comes to lottery or slot machines, I think it is more a game of chance as there is no skill involved only good timing.

I like how you proposed our electrical field as the cause, it makes me think maybe its our Karma that effects our luck.

Originally posted by -W1LL

I like how you proposed our electrical field as the cause, it makes me think maybe its our Karma that effects our luck.

I also think that karma has something to do with it.

Luck exists. It's statistical.

Ever notice how you always seem to get stuck in the longer line at the grocery store or the DMV or whatever? You might think you have "bad luck" to always be in the long line, but it's just statistics and probability. Suppose there are ten people standing in two lines: One line with seven people and one with three. You are one of these people. Statistically speaking, you have a 70% (seven out of ten) chance of being in the long line. So it's not your "luckiness" or "unluckiness" at work...it turns out that everyone has a better chance of being in the longer line.

reply to post by JaxonRoberts

Oh luck exists, and for some reason I seem to get lots of bad luck, or at least not really bad luck, but its like something is freaking trying to keep me in this place and time, in a status and static to sort of say.

And its starting to piss me off, its like every-time I get a little bit of luck, it all balances out to always keep me in this phase and the same old, like I cant ever get out from this boring lane. Its like I'f I find a dollar on the streets and I use it to by a pop because I am thirsty, then in all probability when I put the dollar in the vending machine the pop will get stuck, or the machine will break. So were is the luck in that?

Basically no matter how small or big it always comes out to always cancel it out by something else.

If I didn't know any-better I would say it would be karma but that makes no sense since karma does not apply to me all that much. Or it could be fate and I have even blamed the gods or god since they are the most likely ones to blame for my weird luck. But really I have run out of both gods and demons and what not to blame. But whoever or whatever is to blame for my freaking weird luck, they will pay when I find them or it. You can bet on it.

And in case I am to blame for it being so, then I must pay.

This is freaking unacceptable and annoying its really starting to get to me, its like groundhog day all over again only even more weird then that. So yes luck does exists both as an imaginary concept and as a tangible scientific fact.

But to prove it in a observable scientific way though, you would have to be pretty lucky because unlike the atom it is a very tricks'y particle, and not only is it like some particles in the quantum world, were the same one is everywhere at once or changes to match the observer. This luck particle well, its also in no places at once and it does not care if you observe it or not. Its like got a mind of its own.

Luck&chance are ways to explain that gem of FREE WILL.

Science cannot produce any reliable structure which explains it because there are toooooo many variables.

Adjunct to this...humans compare each other to each other...deeming one 'luckier' than another...the focus is always on the outcome, not the cause!
A person who always looks up at the sky will rarely find money on the ground, before them!
A person who rarely flies in planes, will, because of probabilities, never experience a plane accident!

Then, there are comparisons of 50/50 chance. (lightswitch example in posts above)...this, 'luck' focuses on the outcome, and does not look at other forms of luck in the individuals life...sometimes a case of looking at what goes wrong, rather than, what goes right!

The video explains an 'experiment' to reveal, 'luck'.
Reality is, if'n you dont have it in your mind to find money on the ground, have a need, or care, to meet someone who you can network with, have the motivation (FREE WILL) to follow it up...chances are, it won't happen?!

Being in the right place at the right time is a function of decisions made in the leadup to that place/time...many of us do not remember those seemingly tiny decisions one makes, which propel us into different reality streams...or, they simply don't attribute the seemingly innocent...'oh, its a beautiful day today...i'm gonna walk to work', decisions, that do create the reality you experience.
Events appear to be random, but, in reality...they are a consequence of decisions...either remembered or not.

The focus, in this modern age is to attribute more weight to the outcome of things, rather than the process...which produces those outcomes...hence, the words, 'luck', and 'chance'...that explain away an intial (but forgotten) decision towards an unwanted, or wanted outcome.

Akushla