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Do you believe in luck and if so what's your charm ?

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TheSmiler
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PostPosted: 10:53 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Do you believe in luck and if so what's your charm ? Reply with quote

Curious if any other people on here believe in and if they have any lucky charms. I know for myself since the 2012 BBQ (I think) I've started believing in it a lot more. An it always seems to be around a Walkers truck as daft as it sounds. So for example;

On the way to the BBQ with Tracy and suntan; even though I killed G's dirt bike that had been almost ruined through out the day. It was the best BBQ so far in my opinion.

On way down to Bristol, which ended up being a great 3 years of my life. Which I also saw one going to my job interview that lasted for most of the time in Bristol.

After my big crash in November and when I was going to see a specialist to see if my wrist would be permanently damaged as well as my knee.

As well as seeing one coming back from my current job interview.

There are others as well but those have been the major important ones, so anyone else have a lucky charm that they know will bring them luck Question
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DrSnoosnoo
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PostPosted: 10:56 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

No. There is no "luck". Just coincidence. The universe and unlimited probability of outcomes does not more align to the benefit of one individual over another. /thread
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MarJay
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PostPosted: 11:00 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

The human brain looks for patterns when there are none, and human memory works by association. This means you might associate certain events, and then disregard others. For example, you might have seen a Walkers truck before crashing your bike but your brain wouldn't associate it with good luck until later when you consciously decided that a Walkers truck was good luck.

It's a bit like religion. It's comforting to try to make sense of life by having lucky charms or all powerful deities which we can ask for help but ultimately there is no pattern, there is no control and we're just bags of chemicals on a rock floating in an indifferent universe.
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The Artist
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PostPosted: 11:05 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I believe in the concept of luck being things that happen you interpret them as being positive or beneficial but the idea of an object or "thing" being the cause of more than ones fair share of positive outcomes does not seem possible.

I suspect the answer lies more in how the human brain works as MarJay says.

I do however envy those who find religion or similar ideas and take them to heart as they seem like happier people.
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 11:07 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

MarJay wrote:


It's a bit like religion.


I was going to say, be careful, the next step is religion (The Great God of Walkers? Laughing ). But I never do the lottery because in my mind, I don't have that kind of luck Confused

How long before your accident was it that you saw a Walkers lorry? What sort of timescale do you set for this?

I think I'll start considering seeing Eddie Stobart lorries as harbingers of good luck. There's a depot near me, so I see hundreds of the things Laughing
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Tracer1234
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PostPosted: 11:33 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Re: Do you believe in luck and if so what's your charm ? Reply with quote

TheSmiler wrote:
Lucky Crisps...:


In addition to what everyone else has said... How many other good things have happened, and Gary Linekers lorry has not been there?

Insert a number here __ that is probably more than when the Lorry is there.


You can find a pattern in everything if you look hard enough.
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Rogerborg
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PostPosted: 11:42 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Luck is a concept of the weak willed, of the heretic, of the mutant.

Faith in the Immortal Emperor is the only true shield against fate.
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 12:23 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some people are bad luck magnets so if you keep them around, all the bad luck happens to them not you.

That's why BCF keeps smiler about.
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grr666
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PostPosted: 12:28 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

You make your own luck.
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weasley
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PostPosted: 12:43 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm with the coincidence/mental association crowd too. I remember some sports person once being asked about lucky charms or pre-competition rituals and they replied that they don't do it because one day there's a chance that the charm will go missing or the ritual will not happen, which will then cloud your judgement just when you need it the sharpest.

If you believe in bad omens for example, you may see them and then essentially make them self-fulfilling by being uptight and tense about them. Same goes for "tempting fate".

Here goes: I have never broken a bone in my life. Bring it!
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Alpineandy
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PostPosted: 13:02 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

weasley wrote:
I remember some sports person once being asked about lucky charms or pre-competition rituals and they replied that they don't do it because one day there's a chance that the charm will go missing or the ritual will not happen, which will then cloud your judgement just when you need it the sharpest.


Not quite the same but I'll mention it anyway.
I'm not a Golfer but I believe Arnold Palmer once heard someone say how lucky his shot (stroke/hit/whatever) had been to which he replied something along the lines of 'It's funny how the more I practice, the luckier I get'.
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M.C
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PostPosted: 13:14 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Artist wrote:
I do however envy those who find religion or similar ideas and take them to heart as they seem like happier people.

Ignorance is bliss.

weasley wrote:
I have never broken a bone in my life. Bring it!

Same here Very Happy but I'm still a fairly unlucky person, in that things seem to go wrong for me in situations where no one else has an issue. I've got used to everything turning into a complicated mess, I'm prepared for it. I don't believe in lucky charms, my last bike had a guardian bell and I stacked it 6 weeks later, so that went in the bin Folded arms

I kinda get the reassurance in seeing regular objects though. Whenever I went to my grans house I'd see the same ship. One time I saw it heading into port as I was leaving, only on the last occasion (so nearly a decade on) did I not see it. Nothing bad happened though*.


*Waiting for some Final destination shit to catch up with me
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 14:12 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep, luck plays a huge part in many areas.

When I went to Australia I had no money and had to live off my credit card for about 2 months. Suddenly I found a job as an unskilled factory hand which paid the equivalent of about £800 a week after tax. Among all the people I've ever known who went to Australia doing the working holiday thing, nobody found a position as good as that. I didn't specially deserve it either; it was just a case of being in the right place at the right time.

And for a more recent example, when I arrived in China just a month ago I quietly thought to myself, "I wonder if I'll have similar luck here?" On this occasion I also had quite limited funds so I moved into an absolute shithole of a shared apartment, living with 7 other people in flat where every room bar the kitchen and toilet had been turned into a bedroom, and each room had been divided by plasterboard in order to double the occupancy. My bedroom window was split down the middle with aforementioned plasterboard; I could hear the guy next door's every move. Also the toilet reeked of piss.

Three days into living there I got a message from the letting agent: "Hey, you mentioned you're looking for work in programming? My mate's employer are looking for someone." A week later I was accepted for an intern role at the big glitzy new software park south of the city. To add to this fantastic stroke of luck, a mate of mine happened to be living near that location in a nice new spacious 8th floor apartment with balcony, large rooms, two bathrooms etc. It's far enough from the city centre to make rent cheap; he let me move in to this awesome new place and my rent is less than than what I was paying at the shithole I first moved into. Possibly the best luck I've ever had. I truly expected to spend 3 months looking for work, living in a dump, then go home saying, "Well at least I tried."

In the end it was absolutely pure coincidence that the guy I paid my rent to happened to know someone who could get me into the exact sort of work that I had hoped to find, and pure coincidence that my mate would live 15 minutes' bike ride from my new place of work. Couldn't have asked for a better result if I were a religious nut praying to The Man himself. For this reason I'd say there are plenty of times in life where chance plays a huge part.

Can't say I have any kind of 'lucky charm' though. When it happens it's pure luck, plain and simple.
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angryjonny
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PostPosted: 14:33 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

The nature of randomness is that sometimes the coin comes up heads 10 times on the trot. Some people call this sort of event luck.

It is possible to have been lucky, in the sense that the coin has come up heads for you most of the time. But it isn't possible to be lucky in the sense that the coin is more likely to come up heads next time, because of crisps or whatever.

Except, as grr666 says, to some degree you influence your own "luck" with the situations you put yourself in.
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 14:37 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

grr666 wrote:
You make your own luck.


Apparently, I don't have the ingredients.
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 14:46 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've taken to saying a little prayer before going out on the bike. It goes something like, "please Lord, no accidents, breakdowns or need for ambulances on today's ride."

Because, you know, what can it hurt?
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MarJay
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PostPosted: 15:00 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

chickenstrip wrote:

Because, you know, what can it hurt?


It hurts because it tells your subconscious that there is an outside influence on the probability of you having an accident. You need to tell your subconscious to help you to avoid an accident, not to ask an imaginary deity to help you.
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Alpineandy
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PostPosted: 15:20 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

chickenstrip wrote:
I've taken to saying a little prayer before going out on the bike. It goes something like, "please Lord, no accidents, breakdowns or need for ambulances on today's ride."

Because, you know, what can it hurt?


I ask my imaginary friend 'Bert' the same thing.... I never know if the bastard hears or not because he never answers.... Mad
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supZ
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PostPosted: 15:22 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I used to believe in luck..

There was this one instance when I was a kid. At some boot sale I saw a little wooden idol doll thing with red jewelled eyes. I quite liked it and the old lady (blatantly a witch) said it would bring me good luck.

A day after I got it we get word my aunt had died up in scotland. a week later we went up for the funeral and made it 3 flights of stairs up the block of flats when we hear an alarm and find the back window of the car smashed in and all our clothes, everything stolen.

When we got back dad tells me he forgot to lock my rabbit up in his hutch the night before, left him in the run and a fox (presumably) had got in. All we found was loads of grey fur (rabbit), red fur (fox) and the door forced open from the inside. Never found him but I guess he didn't come to a good end.

Took a hammer and smashed the crap out of that wooden idol.
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M.C
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PostPosted: 15:38 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

chickenstrip wrote:
I've taken to saying a little prayer before going out on the bike. It goes something like, "please Lord, no accidents, breakdowns or need for ambulances on today's ride."

Because, you know, what can it hurt?

What if you forget then realise mid-ride you didn't do your ritual?

supZ wrote:
I used to believe in luck..

There was this one instance when I was a kid. At some boot sale I saw a little wooden idol doll thing with red jewelled eyes. I quite liked it and the old lady (blatantly a witch) said it would bring me good luck.

She saw you coming.
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 15:42 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

MarJay wrote:
chickenstrip wrote:

Because, you know, what can it hurt?


It hurts because it tells your subconscious that there is an outside influence on the probability of you having an accident. You need to tell your subconscious to help you to avoid an accident, not to ask an imaginary deity to help you.


You know what, MarJay? You're just so damn serious all the time. Lighten up a little, will ya? Laughing

I don't know why I started doing it (I do Laughing ), and once said, it doesn't occur to me again through the day. Nor do I believe in sky fairies. It's more like a superstitious thing, but I'm not really superstitious either. But it's just become habit.
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 15:45 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alpineandy wrote:
chickenstrip wrote:
I've taken to saying a little prayer before going out on the bike. It goes something like, "please Lord, no accidents, breakdowns or need for ambulances on today's ride."

Because, you know, what can it hurt?


I ask my imaginary friend 'Bert' the same thing.... I never know if the bastard hears or not because he never answers.... Mad


Maybe that's who I'm really asking then Thinking

Ask him if he knows me.
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Rogerborg
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PostPosted: 15:55 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd be a bit careful about praying to Bert, he doesn't keep the best of company.

https://www.snopes.com/rumors/images/bert.jpg
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Alpineandy
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PostPosted: 15:59 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

chickenstrip wrote:
Alpineandy wrote:
I ask my imaginary friend 'Bert' the same thing.... I never know if the bastard hears or not because he never answers.... Mad

Maybe that's who I'm really asking then Thinking
Ask him if he knows me.

Bert sees all.... and he did mention that you were praying to a false idol...
Then mentioned something about killing 'non-believers of imaginary friends' and said something about 72 bikes, a dozen mute playboy girls and a Thai Restaurant, then something about jihad.... Confused
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Last edited by Alpineandy on 16:09 - 25 Jul 2017; edited 2 times in total
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 16:08 - 25 Jul 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alpineandy wrote:

Bert see all.... and he did mention that you were praying to a false idol...
Then mentioned something about killing 'non-believers of imaginary friends' and said something about 72 bike, a dozen mute playboy girls and a Thai Restaurant, then something about jihad.... Confused


I'm in, where do I sign?
(I don't do fasting, but looks like Bert's got that sorted too Very Happy)

Bert Akbar!
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