Luck, Chance, Randomness

On Friday, there wan an interesting discussion on chance, luck and randomness. Below is an e-mail I sent to WNYC.org, based on a recent experience I had had that involved all these three mysterious elements that we all confront almost at all times in life.

Program Notes: From superstition to simple probability, luck has different meanings in different cultures. We’ll find out why whether that lucky charm really can help you win the lottery. Richard Wiseman is a psychology professor at the University of Hertfordshire and author of the book The Luck Factor. Jeffrey Rosenthal is a professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Toronto. His book is Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities.

"I didn't want to miss any part of the show, so I didn't bother calling. I may not have gotten through either, perhaps. Ah, on the other hand, had I thought I am a lucky person, period, I might have.

Returning to the discussion about luck, chance and randomness. On Wednesday morning, feeling positive (having made the decision to only think positive from now on only the previous night) I was driving at less than 30 m.p.h. on a well-traveled road, though at that time of the day there was very little traffic. As I was traveling south on this road, suddenly I sensed an object approaching me from my left. The object turned out to be a Ford mini-van whose driver in a hurry (later I found out that she's a woman with four kids---two of them twins) chose to skip the stop sign. Quickly assessing the accident waiting to happen, I tried to minimize the impact. Yes, the driver hit me, but though the car incurred sever damage to the tune of $7000 (estimate), I walked away unscathed. So did the other driver, thank God.

After many minor incidents involving no living objects luckily, I've learned that being in a hurry is a costly proposition. Now research too including my own accident this morning proves this. So let's slow down just a tiny bit, just the time it takes to halt at a stop sign long enough to let those with right of way pass.

Dr. Wiseman talked about chance (something we have no control over---e.g. my accident) and luck (something we can make through our general outlook on life---e.g. my walking away unscathed from a situation that had the potential to kill me if not at least maim). I also believe that my staying fit by going to the gym five days a week and my daily meditation had helped my mind stay very focused and I did all that was right to do just before the accident happened and thus helped minimize the impact. I would still call this luck (yes, something we make).

In life, we only need to finish strong, no matter how chancy the journey maybe. This means we have to keep going thinking our lucky breaks will one day come.

Just my two cents.'