Let's Talk About Luck

Let's talk about luck.
Have any of you had any moments where you just were incredible lucky?
Picture related, it's a soldier that had a undetonated bullet lodged in his head.

Let's talk about luck.
Have any of you had any moments where you just were incredible lucky?
Picture related, it's a soldier that had a undetonated bullet lodged in his head.

How does the bullet stick to his head? Pinned underneath the skin?

i'm normally saved from rock bottom by pure luck
family goes bankrupt, then we win 5000 in the lottery :D

>go to party
>almost sex chick
>get six kus I drank too much
>friend takes her homes
>friend dies of aids a while later

How does the bullet stick to his head? Pinned underneath the skin?

Aye, he has a thick head so it got stuck under the skin.

i was souposed to meet my girlfriend one night and i was playing a multi-table tournament on pokerstars and i had a sh*tload of chips, since i was about to leave i said f**k it and went all in with scraps and i cracked some guys aces by hitting a runner runner on the end and got a massive chip lead over everybody else

i called my girl, told her to come over and went on to win the 100$+ first prize

other than that im unlucky as sh*t

Not me, but a friend of mine got very lucky. Won't sound it at first.
He was mountain biking just after christmas 2008, so just over a year ago now. Had come down the course him and his friend (not me) were doing, and were tackling some jumps that were designed for BMXs and that. He's not an idiot - an Oxbridge grad and a PhD student with me. He'd also done this any number of times before, but this time it went wrong and he had a bad landing.
I don't know the details of what happened next, but then again neither does he. What I do know is that he was in a coma for a couple of weeks, and the doctors didn't expect him to come out of it. When he did, he had some quite obvious brain damage - he couldn't talk initially, and was very easily confused. He didn't remember anything beyond about 5 minutes either.
Now, I'm a psychologist with a background in cognitive neuroscience so I knew that this was bad news. For those of you that don't, this is basically as bad as you might expect. He also had heminopia - and not the relatively fun kind where it's just the optic nerve that's been damaged. His left visual cortex - put your left hand on the back of your head, that's the area - was damaged so that he can't see the right-hand side of the world at all.
And yet, he got better. And it took about 9 months. Nothing short of a f**king miracle, and part of me thinks he doesn't realise just how lucky he is. His memory's come back, he's walking around with no problems. His inhibitions are a little changed, but even that is getting better with time. In the next few weeks he should be submitting his thesis.
From a life-ending coma with brain damage, to getting his PhD later this year. Man's a f**king god.

Every living person has won the lottery of birth.

Not me, but a friend of mine got very lucky. Won't sound it at first.
He was mountain biking just after christmas 2008, so just over a year ago now. Had come down the course him and his friend (not me) were doing, and were tackling some jumps that were designed for BMXs and that. He's not an idiot - an Oxbridge grad and a PhD student with me. He'd also done this any number of times before, but this time it went wrong and he had a bad landing.
I don't know the details of what happened next, but then again neither does he. What I do know is that he was in a coma for a couple of weeks, and the doctors didn't expect him to come out of it. When he did, he had some quite obvious brain damage - he couldn't talk initially, and was very easily confused. He didn't remember anything beyond about 5 minutes either.
Now, I'm a psychologist with a background in cognitive neuroscience so I knew that this was bad news. For those of you that don't, this is basically as bad as you might expect. He also had heminopia - and not the relatively fun kind where it's just the optic nerve that's been damaged. His left visual cortex - put your left hand on the back of your head, that's the area - was damaged so that he can't see the right-hand side of the world at all.
And yet, he got better. And it took about 9 months. Nothing short of a f**king miracle, and part of me thinks he doesn't realise just how lucky he is. His memory's come back, he's walking around with no problems. His inhibitions are a little changed, but even that is getting better with time. In the next few weeks he should be submitting his thesis.
From a life-ending coma with brain damage, to getting his PhD later this year. Man's a f**king god.

Damn thats an awesome story. Saving for later use.

Every living person has won the lottery of birth.

ride on, free spirit

when i was younger, i was hiking with my dad on a mountain trail near where he worked (ski resort maintenance during the summertime). somewhere near a creek was a pretty steep 20-foot drop to the water below, complete with some sharp rocks to boot. well, I slipped and began sliding down the slope. i dunno how, but I narrowly avoided getting my head split open by a rock that looked like an axe head that was literally 2 inches away from my forehead by throwing my arms out and grabbing onto two adjacent rocks - just far enough to reach, yet not far enough to really do anything other than hold my arms out until my dad managed to get a rope around my ankle and pull me back up. must've been laying there with my arms outstretched and permanently locked in that head-first-2-inches-from-cranial-fracture position for a good 10 minutes.

Not me, but a friend of mine got very lucky. Won't sound it at first.
He was mountain biking just after christmas 2008, so just over a year ago now. Had come down the course him and his friend (not me) were doing, and were tackling some jumps that were designed for BMXs and that. He's not an idiot - an Oxbridge grad and a PhD student with me. He'd also done this any number of times before, but this time it went wrong and he had a bad landing.
I don't know the details of what happened next, but then again neither does he. What I do know is that he was in a coma for a couple of weeks, and the doctors didn't expect him to come out of it. When he did, he had some quite obvious brain damage - he couldn't talk initially, and was very easily confused. He didn't remember anything beyond about 5 minutes either.
Now, I'm a psychologist with a background in cognitive neuroscience so I knew that this was bad news. For those of you that don't, this is basically as bad as you might expect. He also had heminopia - and not the relatively fun kind where it's just the optic nerve that's been damaged. His left visual cortex - put your left hand on the back of your head, that's the area - was damaged so that he can't see the right-hand side of the world at all.
And yet, he got better. And it took about 9 months. Nothing short of a f**king miracle, and part of me thinks he doesn't realise just how lucky he is. His memory's come back, he's walking around with no problems. His inhibitions are a little changed, but even that is getting better with time. In the next few weeks he should be submitting his thesis.
From a life-ending coma with brain damage, to getting his PhD later this year. Man's a f**king god.

OH MY GOD HE SHOULD HAVE WORN A HELMETTT

OH MY GOD HE SHOULD HAVE WORN A HELMETTT

I've never been entirely clear if he was, but you're right. Wear a helmet kids.

Let's talk about luck.
Have any of you had any moments where you just were incredible lucky?
Picture related, it's a soldier that had a undetonated bullet lodged in his head.

why is the case still attached to the bullet?
how did it even leave the gun?
whaaaaa-?

One time, at the end of primary school, my year went on a sort of adventure holiday thing for a week, and we stayed at a hostel.
I was sleeping on the bottom bunk in our room, and I was lying on my bed while some other guys were sitting around talking with us. Quite a few of them were on the top bunk.
Suddenly someone on the top bunk starts shouting about something outside (the windows were high up, and you had to be on the top bunk to look out).
Turns out a few of the teachers were drunk, and running around outside. So people start coming in from other rooms, jumping up on the top bunk to look out.
I was still lying on the bottom bunk, but I thought, "This sounds funny, I'll check it out." Jumped out of bed, onto the top bunk, and looked out the window.
I think maybe another guy jumped up after me, and then CRACK. Bunk bed collapses, and wooden frame, mattress, and about 10 guys come crashing down on where my head was 10 seconds earlier.
I've sometimes thought, maybe it wouldn't have collapsed if I hadn't been on it as well, but I'm sure someone else would have come through soon enough, and jumped up. Pretty freaky.

I'm very lucky. I always find good stuff or good stuff happens to me when I need it. If I actually believed in God, I'm sure I'd be one of those crazies talking about "guardian angels."
It's raining? Find umbrella.
Didn't do homework? Teacher's sick. Extension.
Hungry? No cash? Find a ten spot.
Line up seemingly impossible mini golf shot? It works.
Get in car wreck? Get away, no scratches. No ticket.
Seriously, I'm pretty f**king lucky.

why is the case still attached to the bullet?
how did it even leave the gun?
whaaaaa-?

Chuck Norris threw it at him.

why is the case still attached to the bullet?
how did it even leave the gun?
whaaaaa-?

My guess is that an ammo crate or something blew up and it flew at him and got stuck there. Something like that.

I'm very lucky. I always find good stuff or good stuff happens to me when I need it. If I actually believed in God, I'm sure I'd be one of those crazies talking about "guardian angels."
It's raining? Find umbrella.
Didn't do homework? Teacher's sick. Extension.
Hungry? No cash? Find a ten spot.
Line up seemingly impossible mini golf shot? It works.
Get in car wreck? Get away, no scratches. No ticket.
Seriously, I'm pretty f**king lucky.

I have somewhat the same thing going on.
I pretty much have my current job and education because I played the same mmo as some guy when I was 13-16.

That's either one f**khuge bullet or OP's story is full of sh*t. PROTIP: Bullets do not take their casings with them when they are fired.

Like 7 free sodas in a row and I just bought one.
It wasn't good day for the store manager though.

I got a Free first class ticket to NY.

There is no such thing as luck.
Only statistics.

That's either one f**khuge bullet or OP's story is full of sh*t. PROTIP: Bullets do not take their casings with them when they are fired.

This is the bullet.

Is this a subtle troll? Or is that one f**king huge round?

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/2925205/Docs-pull-explosive-Taliban-bullet-out-of-soldiers-head.html
Link to the story.

There is no such thing as luck.
Only statistics.

Luck exists, even if you define it as a low-frequency subjectively fortunate occurrence. That it is probable that there will be a winner of the lottery does not make it any less lucky for the individual who does win. it just illustrates that it's subjective.

That's either one f**khuge bullet or OP's story is full of sh*t. PROTIP: Bullets do not take their casings with them when they are fired.

Looks like a 20mm canon shell.

Luck exists, even if you define it as a low-frequency subjectively fortunate occurrence. That it is probable that there will be a winner of the lottery does not make it any less lucky for the individual who does win. it just illustrates that it's subjective.

>luck exists...if you define it as...a fortunate experience
sounds tautological bro

I was at a friend's party at an apartment, on the 3rd story. I was very drunk, and somehow ended up in a fight with some dipsh*t jock. Both of us being completely smashed, we didn't really know where to draw the line, so much so that he pushed me over the railing on the balcony. I fell one story, then hit the tree close to the building, hit a few branches on the way down, and hit the grass. I was a bit dizzy, but relatively fine. Fine enough to go back upstairs and push the jock's head onto the kitchen counter and knock him out.
After that I went to the hospital to find that I had a cracked rib and got my various wounds treated.
Two days later I wound up at the same hospital, with the same doctor even, with completely unrelated appendicitis. That sh*t is painful.
TLDR version; fell 3 stories and only got a cracked rib and a few cuts and bruises

>luck exists...if you define it as...a fortunate experience
sounds tautological bro

If you remove the subjective qualification and completely miss the point of the definition, I guess so.

If you remove the subjective qualification and completely miss the point of the definition, I guess so.

Are you trying to arrive at a phenomenological explanation of luck? Then stop using science silly!

I was leaving my house once, realised I'd left my keys inside.
Spun around, punched a panel of glass (It was one of those front doors more-or-less like pic related). Not intending to break it, but I smashed straight through it. Paused, bought my hand back... not even scratched.
You'd never even know it'd happened, if not for the broken window. My parents didn't know what to think.

Are you trying to arrive at a phenomenological explanation of luck? Then stop using science silly!

No.
The whole point of the definition - again - was to point out that luck exists, but as a subjective rather than objective state.

No.
The whole point of the definition - again - was to point out that luck exists, but as a subjective rather than objective state.

I'm curious what you mean when you say there is such and such subjective state called luck.
Can I say "I feel lucky" and be assured of the truth of that proposition under your definition? Or should we be looking for a less scientistic explanation of the phenomenon.
After all in a mechanical (ie scientistic) world, the notion of luck is absurd. Luck favours one person over another for no reason, it presents an open causal chain, which is unacceptable in science.

Once there was a 50 dollar bill stuck under the leg of my chair at college. That was the story of my life....

I'm curious what you mean when you say there is such and such subjective state called luck.
Can I say "I feel lucky" and be assured of the truth of that proposition under your definition? Or should we be looking for a less scientistic explanation of the phenomenon.
After all in a mechanical (ie scientistic) world, the notion of luck is absurd. Luck favours one person over another for no reason, it presents an open causal chain, which is unacceptable in science.

Science deals with subjectivity all the time. If you think it doesn't, you're a bad scientist. Science would like to find objective overall truths, but settles for truth-within-systems. Quantum mechanics and relativity in physics, for instance. Individual and group behaviour in psychology. Cell and organism properties. Micro and Macro economics.
That you can define luck on a subjective experience level does not make it any less scientific. it quantifies the experience in a way that ratifies with a larger understanding.