March 31, 2006
As Luck Would Have It
Michael Shremer in Scientific American:
Clearly, luck is a state of mind. Is it more than that? To explore this question scientifically, experimental psychologist Richard Wiseman created a "luck lab" at the University of Hertfordshire in England. Wiseman began by testing whether those who believe they are lucky are actually more likely to win the lottery. He recruited 700 subjects who had intended to purchase lottery tickets to complete his luck questionnaire, which is a self-report scale that measures whether people consider themselves to be lucky or unlucky. Although lucky people were twice as confident as the unlucky ones that they would win the lottery, there was no difference in winnings.
More here.
Posted by Azra Raza at 06:34 AM | Permalink
Comments
I've taken care of at least 5 ALS patients and not one had anything good to say about luck.
Posted by: beajerry | Mar 31, 2006 7:33:26 AM
Indeed, I didn't get the impression that Hawking's mention of his "luck" in choosing theoretical physics as being of a larger, general class of luck. Certainly not the kind of luck Shermer spends most of the article discussing.
The book he's reviewing does seem to point out something interesting, though. Extroverts do have more raw opportunities than introverts, although I'm not convinced that focussed introverts can't achieve the same net personal benefits over time.
Posted by: verbatim | Apr 1, 2006 12:42:06 AM
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