LUCK - Or lack thereof.

[photonrider]

Do you feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?

Go ahead, make my day. Take the poll and let's find out.

Good Luck! . . er . . I mean . . . break a leg?

Thanks.
Harry.

 

[AlexGTV]

If you work on something naturally you become more "lucky". But, in reality you just learn how to overcome difficulties more easily.

I'd rather be consistently great than be lucky to be No1 in one very lucky occassion.

Example1.
Our national soccer team is good in defense but average overall. Yes, we won the Euro 2004 but I'd rather have a team like Portugal with better talent, that hasn't won a trophy in a long time, but that plays better. And if we win it will be because of talent and work and not just a lucky streak.

Example2.
The man that wins the lottery and is broke after a month. If you don't invest, money disappears; guickly.

Luck is statistically irrelevant A remnant of conscious effort to appoint cause where there is none.

 

[Brend]

I believe that people have to make their own Luck....it hardly ever just comes about. 👍

 

[AlexGTV]

I believe that people have to make their own Luck....it hardly ever just comes about. 👍

Exactly my point. Even if you win the lottery you have to buy one!

(BTW, lotteries through e-mails are all fake)

 

[Adamgp]

"A real man makes his own luck" - Billy Zane, Titanic.

 

[Hollow]

I think "luck" is another word for great decision making.

 

[AOS-]

I believe luck is just a term people fall back on when they can't comprehend or explain something extremely technical or coincidental.... For example, you play rock-paper-scissors with someone and you win on the first round. You didn't know you were going to win, you didn't know you were going to lose.... but there's an underlying (regardless of how minute of a) reason why you chose a paper and they chose rock.

 

[Driving Park]

I would say no, were it not for my older brother, who consistently gets the best rolls or cards in board/card games (double or triple 6's in Risk, all the Jacks in Sequence, all the Wild/Draw Fours in Uno, and so on) every time he plays my dad (who has far more experience for obvious reasons) and I (less experience for obvious reasons). It has happened far too many times for far too many games in a row for it to be coincidence (and he doesn't load the dice or deck or anything like that).

 

[PeterJB]

I don't believe in luck. I believe in coincidences and either good or poor decision-making.

 

[AlexGTV]

However, social strata such as Vedas in India clearly relate luck to the "fate" of one's life there. The opposite of the American Dream.

 

[a6m5]

I believe in luck. They are probably nothing more than series of coincidences, etc., but if the pattern persist long enough, I'd call it luck.

 

[Techy]

I once believed in luck, but now I don't. I do believe in coincidences and consequences, though. For me Luck is interpreted in scenarios where someone is too successful in something, or occurrences that happen in the most sudden way possible.

 

[Schwartz]

(Insert rationalist explanation here)

 

[Crispy]

"They let me pick, did they ever tell you that? Choose whichever Spartan I wanted. Like the others you were strong, brave, a natural leader. But you had something else, can you guess?......Luck."

Do I believe in luck. In a way I do. Luck is something different than what it is portrayed as in literature. Luck is just pure chance, and pure chance is real. People learn from this chance, and can sometimes use it to their advantage. Simply conducting tests can give the illusion of luck, like a coin toss. I've noticed that if you flick a coin up into the air, it will almost always land on the opposite side of what it's on, provided you do the catch turn over thing. Why? I'm not very sure, all I know is I can use this to my advantage, and more times than not I'm successful.

I've had this "luck" more often now though. I've had many wrecks on my bike that, with many other people result in broken bones, or even a cracked skull. Me on the other hand? I make it out standing and laughing with a couple of cuts and a bad bruise. Then there's the fact that I guessed on 16 question for one of my tests, and got 11 right. (Material we haven't covered yet) So I think there could be luck somewhere out there. Some people are more lucky than others.

Normally, coincidence and luck are the same thing. It seems that people feel luck to be associated with something else, but it isn't anything different than a coincidence that a coin happens to land on the opposite side it was tossed, and that I've managed to come uninjured from bad wrecks. Just simple coincidence, that could've gone the other way.

 

[TheBook]

‎"I personally do not believe in luck. I think luck is an excuse for people who have failed in their mission to do something. If you do the preparation correct, if you do the work. . .then, you win the race. And that's not luck, that's hard work." -Allan McNish, Truth in 24

 

[Antonisbob]

"Now, I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five?"

I voted.

 

[photonrider]

^

"To tell you the truth, i kind of forgot myself, in all this excitement."

Thanks to all who voted so far - even without comment; your silence, being golden, in no way lessens weight.

GTPlanet is truly a great site for almost any discussion - filled with a wide spread of people from diverse ages, backrounds and lifestyles, all bound together by an uncommon passion for cars, competitiveness, and kudos whose thirst for knowledge and hunger to succeed is only equaled by a wont for creative expression and benificial sociability.
Hence 'foruming' when not 'playing the game'. A 'perfect' community, in fact.
It was with that in mind I created this poll - and the results are truly thought-provoking.

But first - the meaning of the word. Without spliting the semantics atom into quirks that are strong, weak, top, bottom, charmed, and strange, we have to agree that the word 'luck' is usually applied to circumstances, events, or forces beyong one's control. That is basically the crude suit we can get this abstract notion to wear in the hopes of turning it visible.

From there, I believe, is where we can hope to harness the power that the knowledge of this influence - if such exists - can bring into enriching our lives.

Research as recently as September, last year, taken in the UK by the Belling Corp., resulted in a survey by William Hill that showed that 69% of those surveyed believed, while 31% did not. There were regional differences that gave the phrase 'luck of the Irish' new meaning. It was also noted that people who believed in bad luck had more of it while those who believed in their good luck considered themselves 'luckier then most'.

Where does the power of intention come into this? As well as positive thinking? And do we even consider the enigmatic Shakti Gawain's creative visualization . . ..

Great posts in here by all, for pro and con.

 

[Blitz187]

I believe in luck, because I've had a crapload of it during my 30 years on this planet. Also my zodiac sign is just lucky....

 

[axletramp]

I can't really believe in the concept of luck per se, as you are therefore getting close to believing certain moments or occurrences are pre-ordained. I do however believe in the term to describe a moment post a surprising or fortunate event or series of events.

I think that makes sense.

 

[Omnis]

If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.

 

[AlexGTV]

If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.

That's a winner!

 

[MatskiMonk]

Luck is simply when a low probability outcome actually happens, and as humans we feel the need to draw a greater meaning to it - be it good luck or bad luck (for instance succesful low probability outcomes on an astronomical scale are justification for a God?!)

Having said that....

My old boss used to say "(good) Luck is place where planning and preperation meet opportunity", and I think that's a good way to view it... with the correct planning and preparation for any situation, you are more likely to be successful should the opportunity arise.

 

[photonrider]

Fate. Destiny. Karma. Divine Rule. Chance.

This word LUCK, these four letters we use to clothe this ineffable Force so we can perceive, in some manner the abstract - these four letters have crept into the psyche, ruled the lives of kings and killers alike, taking on many guises.

The fact that the word is used to label (what is alleged as a force(s)), something uncontrollable, begets what must only be a concept. We find it hard to accept as fact that we do not control our own destinies. We fear the unpredictable. It’s a fear as natural as the bodily functions that we have no control over. We live with fear, day in and day out. Even for a moment, on the highway, or just when the boss happens to pass by. Or in extreme cases the constant paranoia of hypochondria or catagelophobia. Which makes it all the more easy to use the inexplicable to battle the ineffable.

Again, a quick Thank you! to all active participants, especially those pressed for time yet stopped to voice their commitment with a vote. While the balance of votes reflects no unanimity in the matter (as yet!) it does provide room for discussion. Great thoughts in here - all kinds of perceptions (and convictions) laid frankly on the table - which is good! If GTPlanet is split on the matter - then the whole, wide world probably still is. Which is odd, considering that many lucky charms and symbols, from the hallowed, fortunate, very ancient (and now disfigured) Indo-Aryan Swastik, to the Mayan k’in’, or the alchemist’s sign for Gold, or the perennial pull of clover, . . . have been around for a long . . . long time.

Enough time to have figured this all out by now.

Many posts in here, as well, that are worthy of more discussion, and I intend to pick out a few for further analysis as more perspectives are added. For now – I’ll leave you with a tidbit from Warren Buffet, commenting on the ‘Ovarian Lottery’:
“If you could put your ball back, and they took out, at random, a hundred other balls, and you had to pick one of those, would you put your ball back in? Now of those hundred balls . . . roughly five of them will be American. Half of them are going to be below-average intelligence, half will be above. Do you want to put your ball back? Most of you, I think, will not. What you are saying is, I’m in the luckiest 1% of the world right now.”

Cheers.

Harry.

 

[jagdrag77]

I believe in luck sure, whether it's good/bad or even dumb luck, everyone is lucky/unlucky at one point or another.

 

[photonrider]

Driving Park - that's a curious phenomenon, is it not?
I'm sure this frustrates you. 'good luck' is hard to beat with skill.

Crispy - so you have basically learned how to manipulate the law of averages? Interesting post.

I love to believe this:

I believe that people have to make their own Luck....it hardly ever just comes about. 👍

This would definitely give us 'free will' , and put us back in the driving seat.

 

[MarinaDiamandis]

A favourite lyric of mine fits perfectly here:

"... i've got my gods but, in the end, I make my own way"

I could sit around and wait for lady luck, but i'm far too stubborn to accept her offer of help! A good habit of mine is preparing well for things, so if I fail I treat it as a result of sub-optimum preparation.

 

[Omnis]

That's a winner!

10 points for knowing where that's from.

 

[Stiggy]

10 points for knowing where that's from.

I'm sure it's from a movie starring Adam Sandler...

Happy Gilmore?

 

[Ru-fus]

I'm Irish, I don't need luck.

 

[Robin]

The poll should have been whether your lucky or not.

Yes I believe in luck and no I am not lucky ever!