On luck.

You ever meet one of those people that just seem so inherently unlucky? Yes? Well then you know the type I'm talking about. No? Well now you have. You, me, me, you. You've been formerly introduced. Only, I don't reallllly believe in luck.

What is luck anyway? Well, technically luck is defined as an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that leads to a favorable outcome. But the way I figure it most people don't believe in luck, even when they think they do.

To the religious - or the religiously superstitious - luck is less luck and more fate. As in, there is no such thing as luck. It's all some big grand design either decided for by the stars or a god or gods. No luck for those practicing voodoo nor for Christians. You can't have both. Don't sass me, it's not my rules. It's all in the plan. In other words, there is no such thing as luck.

Then there are those who think luck is more of a earned thing, something you get by exuding positive vibes - the new age/The Secret sort of thing. If you think you're lucky you will be lucky! To Buddhists, its all about the Karma baby. Luck associated with virtue. I group these together because they're similar in that whatever happens is either a result of your actions, your thoughts, or your motives to those actions or thoughts. In other words, there's no such thing as luck.

Then there are those who believe luck isn't luck at all, it's just chance. An accident. A coincidence. The rationalists. "Luck is probability taken personally" (quote: Chip Denman, Stats Lab, University of Maryland) - to which Penn Jillette added, "It is the excitement of bad math." In other words, there is no such thing as luck.

So, if none of these groups believe in such a thing called luck ... who does? Though I myself don't believe in luck - I'm a bit of a rationalist - I contradict myself constantly. I often say "you get what you give" which is kind of like karma but not so much so that I'd actually call it karma. I would apply it to the simpler things in life rather than situations in which I might consider myself "lucky". I have experienced a lot of coincidences in life which seems more purposeful than chance yet never so much that I feel that I have to curse or thank anything supernatural. I'm just either in the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the wrong time. No more.

But what about these folks?



Take the guy sinking the basketball from across the court. Was it luck? Skill? God's plan? Or did he just want it bad enough? Did he visualize it, so it happened? Had he deserved it based on the actions he had taken in this life or some previous one? Or was it merely chance?

I have no answers, just a best guess.