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davywavyPeople say that the number 13 is unlucky; there are a number of theories how this might have come about: from such as 13 people being at the Last Supper ("Thirteen at the Table"); to Alexander the Great wanting to be Deified into the 13th seat of the pantheon; to the Ancient Sumerian system of counting which was Base 12 (Based on someone counting the joints of the fingers with their thumb). It is certainly curious that the number to have come up least on the National Lottery should be unlucky 13 (Click on the 'to date' function).
But that begs the question of whether luck actually exists; superstitions the world over acknowledge it in that random blind fate can be propitiated by rituals (Jonny Wilkinsons little ritual before kicking the ball in the world cup being a current famous example) - but of course that begs the question of how much the extra little bit of confidence that performing the ritual (or the little dent to confidence that not carrying it out, or having that Black cat cross your path, or breaking the mirror) actually affects your own performance and concentration and ability.
I've always believed in my own luck. I have a confidence that everything is going to turn out okay as I blithely wander through life, and what do you know? It usually does. But does this mean I'm actually 'lucky' in the sense that fate bends about me and the curve of happenstance is skewed in my favour? Or am I just confident? Or do I just see events in a generally positive light?
Is there, in other words, such a thing as 'luck'; a thing that makes events and probability fall in favour or disfavour to one person or another? Or is it simply that the blind, cold, uncaring universe apportions fortune and failure irrespective, and the whole shebang is based on how we view it and our own perceptions of events?
But that begs the question of whether luck actually exists; superstitions the world over acknowledge it in that random blind fate can be propitiated by rituals (Jonny Wilkinsons little ritual before kicking the ball in the world cup being a current famous example) - but of course that begs the question of how much the extra little bit of confidence that performing the ritual (or the little dent to confidence that not carrying it out, or having that Black cat cross your path, or breaking the mirror) actually affects your own performance and concentration and ability.
I've always believed in my own luck. I have a confidence that everything is going to turn out okay as I blithely wander through life, and what do you know? It usually does. But does this mean I'm actually 'lucky' in the sense that fate bends about me and the curve of happenstance is skewed in my favour? Or am I just confident? Or do I just see events in a generally positive light?
Is there, in other words, such a thing as 'luck'; a thing that makes events and probability fall in favour or disfavour to one person or another? Or is it simply that the blind, cold, uncaring universe apportions fortune and failure irrespective, and the whole shebang is based on how we view it and our own perceptions of events?
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Date: 2003-12-08 01:30 am (UTC)13 is the number that defies predictability (except that it always comes after 12)the number that defies conventions of good or ill, but puts order in the hands of chaos.
It's all quantum anyway.