__/ [ graham ] on Wednesday 22 March 2006 02:49 \__
> "Jeffrey Goldberg" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:12202pdid4drcf0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> My neighbours have a dog that has twice been hit by a car and survived.
>> They call the dog Lucky. They aren't the only one's. I was nearly
>> killed in rough surf last summer and started to lose consciousness while
>> under the water. I have been called, "lucky to be alive." I, however,
>> consider myself unfortunate to have been picked up by a wave and dropped
>> on my head in the first place.
>>
>> I'm sure we can all think of plenty of examples where someone has a very
>> unfortunate and dangerous accident and is called lucky for surviving it.
>> Of course, rationally we know that the person (or dog) was extremely
>> unlucky to have the accident in the first place.
>>
>> I'm curious about what underlies this feeling of good luck when in fact
>> people suffered extremely bad luck.
>>
>> The front page of the Dallas Morning News today has a story of a women
>> who was rescued from the recent flooding. She and her rescuer both say
>> that God had a hand in her rescue, and both are grateful to God.
>> Another women drowned in the flooding, but I don't see newspaper stories
>> about people cursing God for that. Nor does the rescued women seem to
>> blame God for putting her in the life threatening situation she was in.
>>
>> I suspect that the same thinking (whatever it is) that underlies
>> considering my neighbours dog as lucky supports the double standard
>> applied to God.
>>
>> Any ideas?
>>
> Isn't the concept of luck essentially metaphysical?
> Graham
I was going put forward an argument along the very same lines. The word
"luck" is often entangled with spiritual contexts like fate and faith. There
is no such thing as "luck" (dependent on definition). It's about
probability, which is affected by choices. The dog was not lucky. The
incident involved a setup which made survival bound to happen.
Best wishes,
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | "I blame God for making me an atheist"
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