Golden Boy

Current Mood: not sleepy
Current Music: "Fever of Love" by Sweet

AKindOfMagic14: I disagree
AKindOfMagic14: let me try to explain my point of view for a moment
TheBestWeezEver: of course
AKindOfMagic14: I do not believe in fate, predestination, god, a higher power, luck, pre-chosen paths, true love, soul mates, anything of the sort. The world (in my view, of course) is an incredibly variable, chaotic (in a mathematical and literal sense), non-singular environment where the key players (i.e. humans) are governed by biology and have invented social constructs to protect themselves from each other to maximize cooperation for the better advancement of the race. Coincidence, as it is, would simply define random events that happen to produce an unexpected result. I do believe that random events can produce good, bad, or even indifferent or unnoticed results, and we do our best to maintain an overall positive track record.
AKindOfMagic14: Luck, in my opinion, does not work because it assumes that inherent non-definable, non-quantifiable properties change the world in beneficial or destructive ways according to our wishes, when data indicate the nature of the universe is indifferent.
AKindOfMagic14: If luck existed, the following scenario* would illustrate my point:
AKindOfMagic14: Suppose I have a scratch-off lottery ticket. The numbers printed on the card (hidden by the filament to be scratched off later) are determined, printed, and fixed before the ticket leaves the lottery office. It is NOT a winner. This is fixed. The filaments cover the ink and introduce the notion that it *could* be a winner, thus providing the mystery of the lottery. Now, suppose I scratch off the filament with a penny and notice that I have spent a dollar on a non-winning ticket. That's a risk you take playing the lottery.
AKindOfMagic14: Now, (again, this is a hypothetical world) rewind time. I have the EXACT same ticket, a NON winner. I, however, have changed my penny. This is a "lucky" penny, one that has, I dunno, humped a rabbit's foot or been dipped in four leaf clover sauce. In a lucky world, I can change the outcome of this event by using a different penny.
AKindOfMagic14: But of course we know that cannot happen. The outcome of the ticket is fixed- it is not a winner. Scratching with a "lucky" penny, or in a "lucky chair" or giving it to a "lucky" person to scratch cannot change the fact that card is a non-winner.


Luck is a superstition.




*This is a variant of what I have dubbed the "Taco Bell Cup Theory". My explanation for luck influencing a random chance game was first developed at a Taco Bell while drinking from a cup that included a game piece during the height of Episode I merchandising. I have generalized it for ease of explanation.

I also admit that the term luck is used incorrectly to describe different things. It's a logical, semantical (semantickle?), and linguistic problem.