What is Luck?

What is luck? Luck is where chance and consciousness merge.

Understanding Luck

Luck is our brains trying to make sense of a chance occurrence. Humans tend to draw conclusions and see patterns where there are none. It’s the way our brains are wired. A combination of science, math and psychology create what we call luck.

Let’s look at each of these more closely.

Probability

There is a term in science known as “space-time” but when we’re talking about luck, this phrase may sound more familiar: “Right place at the right time”. This can go for either good or bad luck. Time and place are very important factors when considering luck.

The math involved in luck is also known as probability. Randomness affects a lot of what we do. Any improbable event you can think of is almost guaranteed to happen if given enough opportunities.

Statistical Fluctuation

Another way to think about it, and you may have heard this before since it’s a common saying, is if you give a thousand monkeys typewriters then eventually they’ll type out William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Probability has a lot to do with luck. It’s like flipping a coin. If you sit there and record 100 coin flips you will notice streaks of heads and streaks of tails. This naturally occurring phenomenon is perceived by humans as streaks.

We typically have either good luck streaks or bad luck streaks. These streaks of luck are also known as statistical fluctuation.

If you want more information on probability, then check out my past article “How to Predict if You’re Going to Win or Not.”

The Psychology of Luck

The psychology of a person impacts luck by means of perception.

How you perceive things plays a big part in determining whether you’re lucky or not. For example, if you’re walking down the street and a car veers off the road and almost hits you, are you lucky or unlucky? You could view this event as unlucky since the car almost hit you and you could have died! Or you could see it as being lucky that the car didn’t hit you and you’re still alive.

Perception and Point of View

Perception tends to cause many self-fulfilling prophecies.

What do you tend to focus on? Do you focus on more bad things or good things?

Do You Feel Lucky?

Believing in luck and focusing on it means you’ll notice luck more often. If a person feels that they are incredibly unlucky and are always noticing all of the unlucky things that happen, then they’ll continue on this downward spiral.

The same goes for good luck. Our brains have a filter where we remember and focus on the good or bad luck that surrounds us. It sticks out in our mind and we tend to notice what reinforces our bias. In a way, we tend to make our own luck.