Luck

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some information in this article is not attributed to sources and may not be reliable.
Please check for inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.
This article is about fortune. For the places, see Luck, Volhynia (Ukraine), and Luck, Wisconsin (USA).
A four-leaf clover is often considered to bestow good luck
A four-leaf clover is often considered to bestow good luck

Luck can be defined as a chance happening, or as that which happens beyond a person's control. Luck is often regarded as a superstition, but it can be interpreted in many ways.

Contents

[edit] Luck as lack of control

One view holds that luck is that which happens beyond a person's control. This means that luck stands in opposition to one's control, but not to causation. This view incorporates phenomena that are chance happenings, a person's place of birth for example, but where there is no uncertainty involved, or where the uncertainty is irrelevant. Within this framework one can differentiate between three different types of luck:

  1. Constitutional luck, that is, luck with factors that cannot be changed. Place of birth and genetic constitution are typical examples.
  2. Circumstantial luck, that is, luck with factors that are haphazardly brought on. Accidents and epidemics are typical examples.
  3. Ignorance luck, that is, luck with factors one does him or hers self. Examples can be identified only in hindsight.

[edit] Luck as a fallacy

Luck is probability taken personally. A rationalist approach to luck includes the application of the rules of probability, and an avoidance of unscientific beliefs. The rationalist feels the belief in luck is a result of poor reasoning or wishful thinking. To a rationalist, a believer in luck commits the post hoc logical fallacy, which argues that because something is sequentially connected, it is connected otherwise, as well:

A happens (luck-attracting event or action) and then B happens;
Therefore, A caused B.

In this particular perspective, probability is only affected by confirmed causal connections. A brick falling on a person walking below, therefore, is not a function of that person's luck, but is instead the result of a collection of understood (or explainable) occurrences. Statistically, every person walking near the building was just as likely to have the brick fall on them.

The gambler's fallacy and inverse gambler's fallacy both explain some reasoning problems in common beliefs in luck. They involve denying the unpredictability of random events: "I haven't rolled a six all week, so I'll definitely roll one tonight".

Luck is merely an expression noting an extended period of noted outcomes, completely consistent with random walk probability theory. Wishing one "good luck" will not cause such an extended period, but it expresses positive feelings toward the one -- not necessarily wholly undesirable.

[edit] Luck as an essence

There is also a series of spiritual, or supernatural beliefs regarding fortune. These beliefs vary widely from one to another, but most agree that luck can be influenced through spiritual means by performing certain rituals or by avoiding certain circumstances.

One such activity is prayer, a religious practice in which this belief is particularly strong. Many cultures and religions worldwide place a strong emphasis on a person's ability to influence their fortune by ritualistic means, sometimes involving sacrifice, omens or spells. Others associate luck with a strong sense of superstition, that is, a belief that certain taboo or blessed actions will influence how fortune favors them for the future.

Luck can also be a belief in an organization of fortunate and unfortunate events. Luck is a form of superstition which is interpreted differently by different individuals. Carl Jung described synchronicity: the "temporally coincident occurrences of acausal events". He described coincidences as an effect of a collective unconscious.

Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions believe in the will of a supreme being rather than luck as the primary influence in future events. The degrees of this Divine Providence vary greatly from one to another; however, most acknowledge providence as at least a partial, if not complete influence on luck. These religions, in their early development, accommodated many traditional practices. Each, at different times accepted omens and practiced forms of ritual sacrifice in order to divine the will of their supreme being or to influence divine favoritism. The concept of "Divine Grace" as it is described by believers closely resembles what is referred to as luck by others.

Mesoamerican religions, such as the Aztecs, Mayans and Inca, had particularly strong beliefs regarding the relationship between rituals and luck. In these cultures, human sacrifice (both of willing volunteers and captured enemies) was seen as a way to please the gods and earn favor for the city offering the sacrifice. The Mayans also believed in blood offerings, where men or women wanting to earn favor with the gods, to bring about good luck, would cut themselves and bleed on the gods' altar.

Many traditional African practices, such as voodoo and hoodoo, have a strong belief in superstition. Some of these religions include a belief that third parties can influence an individual's luck. Shamans and witches are both respected yet feared based on their ability to cause good or bad fortune for those in villages near them.

[edit] Luck as a placebo

Some encourage the belief in luck as a false idea, but which may produce positive thinking, and alter one's responses for the better. Others, like Jean Paul Sartre and Sigmund Freud, feel a belief in luck has more to do with a locus of control for events in one's life, and the subsequent escape from personal responsibility. According to this theory, one who ascribes their travails to "bad luck" will be found upon close examination to be living risky lifestyles. On the other hand, people who consider themselves "lucky" in having good health may be actually reaping the benefits of a cheerful outlook and satisfying social relationships, both of which are well known statistically to be protective against many stress-related diseases[citation needed]. If "good" and "bad" events occur at random to everyone, believers in good luck will experience a net gain in their fortunes, and vice versa for believers in bad luck. This is clearly likely to be self-reinforcing. Thus, although untrue, a belief in good luck may actually be an adaptive meme.

[edit] Manifestations

[edit] Numerology

Most cultures consider some numbers to be lucky or unlucky. This is found to be particularly strong in Asian cultures, where the obtaining of "lucky" telephone numbers, automobile license plate numbers, and household addresses are actively sought, sometimes at great monetary expense. Numerology, as it relates to luck, is closer to an art than to a science, yet numerologists, astrologists or psychics may disagree. It is interrelated to astrology, and to some degree to parapsychology and spirituality and is based on converting virtually anything material into a pure number, using that number in an attempt to detect something meaningful about reality, and trying to predict or calculate the future based on lucky numbers. Numerology is folkloric by nature and started when humans first learned to count. Through human history it was, and still is, practiced by many cultures all over the world from traditional fortunetelling to on-line psychic reading.

[edit] Example uses and quotations

  • "When it rains, it pours" — this is an expression of the mathematical property of statistically independent events that bunch together.
  • "Bad things happen in threes" — see above
  • When something happens by "sheer dumb luck", it is considered to have happened unintentionally and without planning.
  • A famous Samuel Goldwyn quote sums up the rationalist view: "The harder I work, the luckier I get". Or an equally famous Gary Player quote "The harder I practice, the luckier I get".
  • Knocking on wood, spoken expression used as a charm to bring good luck. In medieval times, it was believed that there were spirits living in the trees. One would "knock on wood" for the spirits to gain protection from bad luck.
  • "Getting lucky" — euphemism for having sex
  • "Who dares, wins" — motto of the Special Air Service
  • "Luck is the residue of design" — Branch Rickey
  • "Luck is probability taken personally" — Chip Denman
  • "Fortune favors the bold" - Aeneid
  • "If it wasn't for bad luck, you'd have no luck at all" — this is an expression of unluckiness

[edit] Luck in Scripture

  • The bearing Isaiah 65:11 has on beliefs concerning luck is a matter of controversy ("But you who forsake Yahweh, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny").

[edit] Items or events

Several items or happenings are considered lucky or unlucky.

[edit] Lucky

[edit] Unlucky

  • Subscript text Friday the 13th
  • The number 13 (many buildings were built without a designated 13th floor when numbering their floors for this reason, skipping from the 12th floor to the 14th floor)
  • The number 4 (in China, the word's pronunciation in Mandarin and Cantonese is similar to "si", which means death. A similar belief is present in Japan and Korea.)
  • A black cat crossing one's path (the opposite belief prevails in Great Britain and parts of Ireland)
  • Stepping on a crack (doing so would cause your mother's back to break; rhymed as "step on a crack, break your mother's back")
  • Stepping on a line in pavement or floor cover (similar to above, rhymed as "step on a line, you'll break your spine")
  • Breaking a mirror (seven years of bad luck. Dates from the times when mirrors were rare, luxury items and would cost the average domestic servant a whole seven years worth of wages if they broke one.)
  • Spilling over salt (dates to when salt was more precious than gold, if one spilt some it was believed to mean that a demon was trying to steal one's salt, but by appeasing it with a little salt over the left shoulder, the demon would leave)
  • Putting a hat on a bed
  • Opening an umbrella indoors
  • Killing a ladybug/ladybird
  • Killing a spider in one's home
  • Walking underneath a ladder (when being hanged, the condemned man would often be made to pass underneath a ladder before climbing it and onto the gallows)
  • Replying "thank you" to someone wishing good luck
  • Picking up a penny face-down (can be avoided by giving the penny away)
  • Putting shoes on a table. In the UK, this is considered to bring extremely bad luck, traditionally the death of a person in the house. This is sometimes specified to only be unlucky when new shoes are put on a table
  • In the British Navy it was traditionally considered unlucky to have a woman on board ship, although this may be a more practical matter. Having a naked woman on a ship was considered good luck, however.
  • Among sailors it is considered unlucky to kill a porpoise or an albatross (see The Rime of the Ancient Mariner where the title character is cursed for killing this bird)
  • Among sailors it is considered bad luck to have anything blue aboard
  • It is also considered very bad luck to launch a ship on a Friday
  • When launching a ship by breaking a bottle on its hull, a failure of the bottle to break is considered bad luck.
  • Saying "good luck", especially to an actor going onstage (the preferred expression is: Break a leg)
  • In theaters, "Macbeth" must not be uttered by anyone unless it is necessary to the show. For example, if the company is performing Shakespeare's Macbeth, one says "the Scottish Play" and refers to the characters as "Mackers" and "Lady Mackers"
  • Sinistrality (being left-handed)
  • Seeing one magpie
  • A bird flies into one's window (a person in the family will die today, or has died last night). In some variants, it is believed to only be bad luck if the bird dies.
  • Using a Ouija board; it is believed by some to attract bad spirits
  • In Japan and China putting chopsticks upright in rice is considered very bad luck (since it resembles the incense used in offerings to the dead)
  • In some areas it is believed to be bad luck to kill a mockingbird; this becomes a part (albeit not a large part) of the story To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as inspiring the title.
  • Cutting your nails at night
  • Turning a horse shoe upside down is said in Britain to drain the good luck from it and bring about bad luck: in Italy, horse shoes are turned upside down explicitly to contain the good luck they bring
  • Avoiding eye contact when toasting with another person
  • Shaking your leg while sitting
  • Saying 'rabbit' on the Isle of Portland
  • Saying "Bloody Mary" (you will supposedly see the queen, Bloody Mary, covered in blood)
  • In Russia if you sit on a table top, one of your relatives will die

[edit] Rituals of luck

  • Blowing out candles on a birthday cake will give you a wish. However, it is said that telling someone your wish will make it not come true.
  • That you must eat cheesecake from the backend first, and then you can make a wish when you eat the tip.
  • That if you blow all the fluff off of a milkweed you get a wish.
  • Two people are to pull apart a dried breastbone of a turkey or chicken and the one who is left with the longer end will have their wish come true.
  • Eating an apple on Christmas Eve will assure good health in the coming year.
  • Tossing salt over your left shoulder if you spill it.
  • Spitting if a black cat crosses your path.
  • If you break a mirror, waiting seven hours (one for each year of bad luck) before you pick it up, and then burying it outside in the moonlight should counteract the bad luck.
  • Saying "rabbit rabbit" as the first thing at the beginning of every month.
  • Walking into your room backwards, wearing your pajamas inside out, and sleeping with a spoon under your pillow are supposed to ensure that school will be cancelled the next day due to snow or ice.
  • Making a wish on an apple, then pulling the stem. If the stem remains intact, the wish will be granted.
  • Seeing your watch at 11:11 allows the viewers wish to be granted.

[edit] Luck in fiction

  • In the film The Cooler William H Macy plays a gambler with the worst luck imaginable —- he can never win, no matter how hard he tries. A casino has hired him as a cooler, a person with really bad luck who is said to be able to infect bad luck on other gamblers experiencing a winning streak. He either taps their table, touches their drink, or when his aura is strong he only has to walk past them.
  • In the novella The Lud, the central character, Lord Ludford of Ballinteer, experiences extraordinary good luck. However, he is incapable of admitting and accepting that it is luck, and not his actions or decisions, that lead to his successes.
  • In L. Frank Baum's The Patchwork Girl of Oz, a boy named Ojo discovers that he is known as "the Unlucky," but through the intervention of friends he makes over the course of the story he becomes Ojo "the Lucky" instead.
  • Gladstone Gander, a fictional cartoon character, is dependent solely upon his good luck.
  • Joe Btfsplk, a character in the Li'l Abner (Little Abner) comic strip by the cartoonist Al Capp is not only unlucky; he is shunned by the other characters as they suspect (with good reason) that this bad luck may be infectious.
  • In Larry Niven's novel Ringworld, the character Teela Brown was the incredibly lucky result of a centuries-long breeding program initiated by the alien Pierson's Puppeteers directed to just such an outcome. The consequence of her state was that she'd led such a charmed and worry-free life that she was emotionally immature and unprepared for "harsh reality."
  • In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, luck is an anthropomorphic personification known as the Lady, who, while not a goddess, is powerful enough to be the rival of the god Fate. Her true name (hypothesized to be 'Lady Luck') cannot be uttered, and she is known to be attracted to the sound of rolling dice.
  • Eugene Horowitz from Hey Arnold is known for the bad luck he constantly has, though his optimism always makes his personality win over it.
  • Felix Felicis, a potion in the Harry Potter books, gives its drinker good luck. As a result, it is banned from examinations, sporting events and polls.
  • Furrball the cat in Tiny Toon Adventures is a perpetually unfortunate feline, forever suffering mishaps, though frequently it's his own actions (i.e., overwhelming greed) that get him into trouble (not unlike mentor Sylvester the cat).
  • Falkor from The Neverending Story is a Luck dragon who possesses uncanny luck with everything he does.
  • In the Red Dwarf episode 'Quarantine', a "luck virus" existed.
  • Fortune (or "Lady Luck"), a character in the video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, is implied to have extraordinarily good luck which apparently causes bullets to swerve away from her.
  • Good Luck Bear, a character from the popular Care Bear TV Series and line of toys has is known almost entirely for his amazing luck. The 4 leaf-clover clover on his tummy says it all.
  • Milfeulle Sakuraba of Galaxy Angel brims with such luck that she is repeatedly thrown out of casinos because she wins all the time, she finds winning lottery tickets on the ground, and can survive any ilk of danger because of her good fortune. However, this is balanced by periods in which Milfuelle has very terrible luck, causing her to want to be alone during these times.
  • Huckleberry Finn — killing a spider or handling a snakeskin brings bad luck.
  • Match Point by Woody Allen contains elements illustrating the importance of luck, such as a let in tennis.
  • Althalus of David Eddings' The Redemption of Althalus is known as the world's luckiest thief. He perceives his luck to be in love with him, and associates it with a feeling he gets when he has been in any place for too long (i.e.; . long enough for a bounty to be placed on his head).
  • The Marvel Comics character Longshot of X-Men fame is supernaturally lucky so long as his motives are pure. Another Marvel character, the mutant Domino, also has a power which influences probabilities in her favor, and was in fact inspired by Longshot.
  • The film Intacto is about individuals who have the ability to steal luck from others in order to compete in complex games of chance.
  • Mat Cauthon in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series is considered to be uncannily lucky.
  • In the Futurama episode "The Luck of the Fryrish", Fry goes in search of a seven leaf clover which brought him good luck in his past life, before he was frozen. He then learns that it was given to his nephew who is named after him.
  • On the 1971-72 cartoon "The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show", the character Schleprock is considered a "jinx" with perpetual bad luck.
  • In PC game series Heroes of Might and Magic, if the hero has positive luck, the creatures in his/her army may deal double damage to their targets.
  • In PS2 game Final Fantasy X-2, one of the available dresspheres (classes or jobs) in the game is Lady Luck, a class using luck-based attacks and abilities, such as “Dice”, “Reels”, “Bribe” and “Felicity”.
  • In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi remarks that "In my experience, there is no such thing as luck."
  • In Steel Ball Run, a spinoff of the comic series Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, a character named Pocoloco has extraordinarily good luck, which gives him a large advantage in the cross-continental race the story is based on.

[edit] Songs about luck

[edit] See also

Look up Luck in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../l/u/c/Luck.html"