Do you believe in luck?

[johnnyjones]

Luck is simply a word applied to someone who has a series of good events. If you believe the good events came about by fervent prayer , you could admit so, and say luck played no role. If you see the good events as a series of positive random acts then you call it luck. It seems as though the meaning poured into the cause of the events determines the word usage.

[tonyrey]

Originally Posted by johnnyjones

Luck is simply a word applied to someone who has a series of good events. If you believe the good events came about by fervent prayer , you could admit so, and say luck played no role. If you see the good events as a series of positive random acts then you call it luck. It seems as though the meaning poured into the cause of the events determines the word usage.

1. ^ Elbow Room by Daniel Clement Dennett, p. 92. "We know it would be superstitious to believe that "there actually is such a thing as luck" - something a rabbits foot might bring - but we nevertheless think there is an unsuperstitious and unmisleading way of characterizing events and properties as merely lucky."
2. ^ Luck: the brilliant randomness of everyday life p. 32. "Luck accordingly involves three things: (1) a beneficiary or maleficiary, (2) a development that is benign (positive) or malign (negative) from the stand point of the interests of the affected individual, and that, moreover, (3) is fortuitous (unexpected, chancy, unforeseeable.)"
3. ^ CHANCE News 4.15 ...the definition in the Oxford English dictionary: "the fortuitous happening of an event favorable or unfavorable to the interest of a person" - wikipedia

Luck can be

good - as when a person wins the lottery - or

bad - as when a person is killed by lightning

There is no reason or explanation for either event because both are due to unplanned coincidences, i.e. convergence of causal chains in time and space.

[PoliSciProf]

Baseball guru Branch Rickey once said "Luck is the residue of design." He is right of course. I believe in the laws of probability along with the possibility of divine intervention.

[tonyrey]

Originally Posted by PoliSciProf

Baseball guru Branch Rickey once said "Luck is the residue of design." He is right of course. I believe in the laws of probability along with the possibility of divine intervention.

"residue" is a superb description! The element of chance exists within the wine of Design. And divine intervention is the liqueur!

[wcknight]

Originally Posted by tonyrey

Luck can be

good - as when a person wins the lottery - or

bad - as when a person is killed by lightning

There is no reason or explanation for either event because both are due to unplanned coincidences, i.e. convergence of causal chains in time and space.

Or Luck can be :

Bad -winning the lottery and letting money change your normal kind hearted nature to become a greedy money hoarding selfish person

or
Good - being struck by lighning preventing you from becoming a wicked evil person down the road.

.

[tonyrey]

Originally Posted by wcknight

Or Luck can be :

Bad -winning the lottery and letting money change your normal kind hearted nature to become a greedy money hoarding selfish person

or
Good - being struck by lighning preventing you from becoming a wicked evil person down the road.

.

Cute!

[Charlemagne II]

Bezant

I believe more in blessings.

Or curses.

Actions have consequences, sometimes inevitable though we are surprised by them and think of them as luck.

For example, catching a venereal disease, one dude might growl, "Just my luck!"