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What's Your Jinx/What's Your Luck?

Skeptic Richard Wiseman wrote a book called The Luck Factor that's worth a read. Ironically I appear to have lost my copy. Here's a look at his findings. And another.

Basically people who are gregarious and easily distracted tend to spot more opportunities than those of us who are shy and focused on doing one thing at a time.

Nevertheless I found a fiver in the street the other week. Explain that, Wiseman!
 
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Luck and superstition are things I haven't really given much thought to since being a young adult. At school, superstition ruled. I wonder if today's kids are as inclined to believe in such things?

Three observations (3 is lucky, no?) -

Gamblers will see patterns and meaning in anything. There is something OCD about a hardcore gambler.

If I am depressed, then I will start seeing patterns and connections to things that aren't really there. When I am well, these things don't occur to me at all.

Schoolboy luck/jinx beliefs - The 'magpie' one still makes me think to this day, although I know it's nonsense. Goes to show how powerful religious indoctrination from an early age can be, if I still think twice about how many birds I happen to see based on something I believed as a child.
 
davidplankton said:
If I am depressed, then I will start seeing patterns and connections to things that aren't really there. When I am well, these things don't occur to me at all.
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There is quite a bit of research that shows heightened cognitive skills linked to depression. It's a kind of depressive realism.
 
davidplankton said:
Schoolboy luck/jinx beliefs
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The things I am reminded of when reading these boards!

When I was a kid, there was a tree close to the entrance of the local wood. On it was a piece of bark that was shaped exactly like a small breast. Nipple as well. We considered it necessary to cup this in our hands as we passed by to ensure no bad luck would befall us in the wood. No prizes for guessing that this was what we called the Tit Tree.

There was also a Shit Tree. Two branches had grown together and at some point their paths diverged before coming together again. It formed a kind of hoop up in the branches that was about the same size as a toilet seat. If anyone could take a dump whilst sitting on the hoop, they would be blessed with good fortune.
It was a difficult tree to climb and I never heard of anyone actually doing it.
 
Coal said:
There is quite a bit of research that shows heightened cognitive skills linked to depression. It's a kind of depressive realism.
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Interesting. Wasn't aware of that. I have never been so steely and clear-minded as when I've been at the lowest, most horrible point of depression. Actually has quite scared me.
 
Coal said:
It why engineers, trained in realistic pragmatism (you can't bullshit physics) are often considered 'negative' by the blindly optimistic.
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Ha! I've been told by bosses that I was being negative about something. My answer to that was that I was being 'realistic'.
 
Good heavens, there's a lot of misery in this thread! :eek: Misfortune can certainly stick in your memory longer and seem more prominent, but IMO, it's worth it to poke around in your past and see where you have a pattern of good fortune, too. Even something as small as always finding the right parking spot.

I don't necessarily believe that luck of any kind comes from external sources, but noticing these patterns, especially when they seem weird or uncanny, tells us something about the state of our psyche. (Or, if you're a more mystical type, your soul, your karma, or your astrological profile. :))

We're the product of millions of years of successful evolution, so it can't be all bad!
 
Yeah, I have trouble thinking of good memories because if I dwell on them the bad memories tend to take over as my mind links to them, but that doesn't mean nothing good has ever happened to me. It's been a tough year financially, but I still have a roof over my head and enough to eat, so I count my blessings. There's always someone worse off than yourself (though if I lived in Aleppo I might be struggling to bring them to mind). Luck is often where you perceive it, the big occasions aside (and even then!).
 
GNC said:
Yeah, I have trouble thinking of good memories because if I dwell on them the bad memories tend to take over as my mind links to them, but that doesn't mean nothing good has ever happened to me. It's been a tough year financially, but I still have a roof over my head and enough to eat, so I count my blessings. There's always someone worse off than yourself (though if I lived in Aleppo I might be struggling to bring them to mind). Luck is often where you perceive it, the big occasions aside (and even then!).
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Yup, even when things are bad/catastrophic you can always think, well, at least we're not dead. If you're so inclined.

I've chatted with people who've crashed and written off cars and I've complimented them on their good luck, where they've walked away or not been badly hurt. Some take this quite badly if their car was their pride and joy.

How is it unlucky to only lose a car? A car? Not a leg or a daughter, a bloody car. If I wrecked my car and survived I'd kiss the ground in gratitude.
 
davidplankton said:
I think I cheated death when I was sixteen, although I can't be sure as I am still here. I only realised, started thinking about what could have happened this year. Which I think is strange.
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Sometimes memory works like that. I sometimes remember things that happened years ago and realise how much worse they could have been, or occasionally what must have really happened.

The thing that happened to you, I wonder if you're only now old enough to process the full impact of it? Teenagers think they're indestructible. Nobody believes in the possibly of their own death until they're about 25. It might take a while after that for a person to grasp how lucky they've been.
 
I suppose I am "lucky". I win raffles and so on. Despite numerous illnesses and accidents I'm still damn well here - eat THAT universe!!!!!!

I'm a very good poker player, which some people think is "lucky". I think you don't think like that or you'll do something stupid instead of working out the odds in your head.
 
escargot1 said:
The thing that happened to you, I wonder if you're only now old enough to process the full impact of it?
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Probably. I was at the front at a gig and was crushed against the stage. I started feeling unwell and motioned to a roadie the universal 'drink/water' sign. He just shook his head, not his job after all. I passed out and the next thing I knew I was alone at the side of the stage, being told to move away by a bouncer.
Someone had dragged me up onto the stage, probably the roadie, maybe a guardian angel. :D
 
Frideswide said:
I suppose I am "lucky". I win raffles and so on. Despite numerous illnesses and accidents I'm still damn well here - eat THAT universe!!!!!!

I'm a very good poker player, which some people think is "lucky". I think you don't think like that or you'll do something stupid instead of working out the odds in your head.
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The only raffle I've ever won was a 'Guess how many Gob Stoppers are in this jar' when I was a little kid .. I said some random number without even knowing what I was doing but won the jar anyway ... and I didn't like gob stoppers.
 
I scored a goldfish once, I called him 'cuddles' after a cat in the Whizzer and Chips comic ... he was splashing about in a puddle in Sutton Park because someone had dropped the bag he was in .. I took him back to the fairground stall owner who popped him into another bag for me .. he lasted an astonishing 2 years before he jumped out of his bowl when I was staying at my Granddad's house and dried out on my bed :( ..
 
Contests were an extremely popular promotion for radio stations in the 80's. We only entered one once. We didn't win the trip to New Orleans. In fact, the station went out of business a week after we entered.
On the other hand, I seldom have a bad Friday the 13th. Never had problems after breaking mirrors. Nice to be superstition proof.
 
I thought I'd got lucky yesterday when I bought a new office chair from Argos. Only to waste hours finding I couldn't assemble it because two screws are missing... :(
 
rynner2 said:
I thought I'd got lucky yesterday when I bought a new office chair from Argos. Only to waste hours finding I couldn't assemble it because two screws are missing... :(
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I can't stand Argos for a number of reasons (even though your missing two screws would have been the manufacturer's fault) .. I bought a mobile phone off them that was advertised as having a video filming function then discovered it didn't .. I took it back, the first woman flatly told me that Argos didn't do refunds on mobile phones even after I explained my legitimate complaint. I asked to speak to the manager who told me the same thing even after I showed him the faulty advert in the Argos catalogue and allowed him to try and find a video filming function .. he also failed to but still refused me a refund until I threatened him with solicitor action .. "We've got loads of solicitors" was his arrogant reply, "My solicitor and Argos's solicitors will all agree with me and you will end up looking very stupid to you superiors unless I get a refund .. now .." .. I had to argue with him that much but I got my refund ..
 
I've always been pretty lucky, things seem to have a habit of working out ok for me. There have also been quite a few lottery wins (nothing major otherwise I wouldn't be here with you peasants :p )
Probably the luckiest moment was when I was a teenager and was walking past a derelict building. I suddenly decided to run and within a few seconds there was a loud crash behind me and a TV aerial and a pile of bricks landed where I would have been.
 
rynner2 said:
I thought I'd got lucky yesterday when I bought a new office chair from Argos. Only to waste hours finding I couldn't assemble it because two screws are missing... :(
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Unlike me, I put together an Argos folding bed and had a couple of screws left over. I'll be buggered if I'm taking it to bits and putting all together again. Besides I won't be sleeping in it :evil:
 
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