Luck?
Luck?
I know it's just statistics and randomness... I would spit to anything supposed to give luck, and show my middle finger to anything that would give bad luck. I don't play games of chances, Casino or Lottery, except for the fun of it...
But surviving (literally) many things while those close would die or get permanent damages, have put me recent years in the belief that I am a lucky guy in terms of danger, so lucky that I don't do anything to prevent danger, trusting that I'll deal perfectly with it if it comes...
My RL friends call it an "immortal complex". They also say that it's my certainty of luck which makes me keep the mind cool and do just the right thing in the situation to survive. In any case thanks to that I sort of walk life whistling...
But I know it's just rubbish... It is irrational!! But then again, time after time, and situation after situation, it only confirms that I'm just lucky.
I don't give anything for granted. I know I must work HARD for everything... It's just that I am lucky in physically dangerous situations...
Anyway... What are your opinions about "luck"... It's something that I can't erase from my mind no matter how rationalistic I approach it...
But surviving (literally) many things while those close would die or get permanent damages, have put me recent years in the belief that I am a lucky guy in terms of danger, so lucky that I don't do anything to prevent danger, trusting that I'll deal perfectly with it if it comes...
My RL friends call it an "immortal complex". They also say that it's my certainty of luck which makes me keep the mind cool and do just the right thing in the situation to survive. In any case thanks to that I sort of walk life whistling...
But I know it's just rubbish... It is irrational!! But then again, time after time, and situation after situation, it only confirms that I'm just lucky.
I don't give anything for granted. I know I must work HARD for everything... It's just that I am lucky in physically dangerous situations...
Anyway... What are your opinions about "luck"... It's something that I can't erase from my mind no matter how rationalistic I approach it...
- Gawdzilla Sama
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Re: Luck?
Never encountered this "luck" thing. Events occur or they don't. No motivator behind them. String theory, as I understand it, has killed "luck", because everything goes both ways, so ultimately there's no winning or losing, just a matter of chance as to which side of the split you wind up on.
Re: Luck?
I give no credibility whatsoever to luck. Some people see flipping a coin as luck, whereas I would say it is simply the force of rotation placed upon the object by hitting it, then impacted by wind resistance, and its distance from the ground. I would be considered a determinist, in that I believe everything is subject to the link of causality. So to me, luck and things such as free will don't exist in the absolute. However, as we are a slave to our senses, these things appear to exist based on our perception.
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Re: Luck?
Well there are probability and statistics of course and 'luck' is determined by those. You can flip a coin ten times and it comes up heads all ten - but the odds of the next flip are still 50/50. So it *is* possible that you are a statistical freak having survived things which might have ended in disaster quite easily, but the next time you encounter such an event your chance of surviving won't be any greater.
So be careful out there!
So be careful out there!

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Re: Luck?
Sisifo wrote:But surviving (literally) many things while those close would die or get permanent damages, have put me recent years in the belief that I am a lucky guy in terms of danger, so lucky that I don't do anything to prevent danger, trusting that I'll deal perfectly with it if it comes...
Quite so. In as far as 'luck' involves 'beating the odds', there is no such thing. 'Lucky' people are no less subject to the fall of the dice as 'unlucky' ones. "The only way to be certain of being lucky is to give up early - if you're lucky then to be ahead."*Rumertron wrote:Well there are probability and statistics of course and 'luck' is determined by those. You can flip a coin ten times and it comes up heads all ten - but the odds of the next flip are still 50/50. So it *is* possible that you are a statistical freak having survived things which might have ended in disaster quite easily, but the next time you encounter such an event your chance of surviving won't be any greater.
*Peter Mason, Half your Luck! or discovering probability, Penguin, 1986
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Re: Luck?
Having worked in casinos (off and on) for 15 years, I can confirm that 'luck' is an illusion (as if such confirmation were necessary.)
'Lucky streaks' occur - as do unlucky ones. And in the long run it always evens itself out. It would only take a handful of genuinely lucky players to bring the betting industry to its knees. I have seen players that have won at roulette or blackjack week-in week-out for months on end. I have also seen these same players go through such a ridiculously bad losing streak that they have questioned the honesty of the casino.
There is no better advertisement for a casino than a winner! New players that blow their wad in the first few minutes rarely get hooked. Those that have a little bit of good fortune before doing their pile are the degenerate suckers of tomorrow.
The only way to win in a game of chance is to play the odds to your favour. In casinos, this means counting cards at BJ - a skill that is quickly spotted and results in rapid barring - or playing games like poker, where you can pit your wits against those genetically bereft of such enhancements.
'Lucky streaks' occur - as do unlucky ones. And in the long run it always evens itself out. It would only take a handful of genuinely lucky players to bring the betting industry to its knees. I have seen players that have won at roulette or blackjack week-in week-out for months on end. I have also seen these same players go through such a ridiculously bad losing streak that they have questioned the honesty of the casino.
There is no better advertisement for a casino than a winner! New players that blow their wad in the first few minutes rarely get hooked. Those that have a little bit of good fortune before doing their pile are the degenerate suckers of tomorrow.
The only way to win in a game of chance is to play the odds to your favour. In casinos, this means counting cards at BJ - a skill that is quickly spotted and results in rapid barring - or playing games like poker, where you can pit your wits against those genetically bereft of such enhancements.
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Sandy Denny
This is the wrong forum for bluffing
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Yes, yes. But first I need to show you this venomous fish!
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Millefleur
Salman Rushdie
You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic.
House MD
Who needs a meaning anyway, I'd settle anyday for a very fine view.
Sandy Denny
This is the wrong forum for bluffing

Paco
Yes, yes. But first I need to show you this venomous fish!
Calilasseia
I think we should do whatever Pawiz wants.
Twoflower
Bella squats momentarily then waddles on still peeing, like a horse
Millefleur
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Re: Luck?
Agreed completely. I never play against the "house". Playing poker, for me, has been the only way to have fun AND make a little money. (Gotta love starting to play at 22:00 in a vegas casino, during the NCAA tournament, whilst being completely sober. Made between $200 and $800 per night. I played about 4-6 hours. Great fun.)Xamonas Chegwé wrote:Having worked in casinos (off and on) for 15 years, I can confirm that 'luck' is an illusion (as if such confirmation were necessary.)
'Lucky streaks' occur - as do unlucky ones. And in the long run it always evens itself out. It would only take a handful of genuinely lucky players to bring the betting industry to its knees. I have seen players that have won at roulette or blackjack week-in week-out for months on end. I have also seen these same players go through such a ridiculously bad losing streak that they have questioned the honesty of the casino.
There is no better advertisement for a casino than a winner! New players that blow their wad in the first few minutes rarely get hooked. Those that have a little bit of good fortune before doing their pile are the degenerate suckers of tomorrow.
The only way to win in a game of chance is to play the odds to your favour. In casinos, this means counting cards at BJ - a skill that is quickly spotted and results in rapid barring - or playing games like poker, where you can pit your wits against those genetically bereft of such enhancements.
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