Fun Project: Political Compass

[Thorgrim]

I don't know why "luck" is such an unbelievable term, it's a simple word to describe the concept that favorable things are going your way

Do some people here not believe in bad luck...when a bunch of shitty things happen to a "prepared" person that permanently disable him, physically and emotionally...?

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

I don't know why "luck" is such an unbelievable term, it's a simple word to describe the concept that favorable things are going your way

Do some people here not believe in bad luck...when a bunch of shitty things happen to a "prepared" person that permanently disable him, physically and emotionally...?

I believe in bad luck. But I don't believe someone has some "New Age" naturally seeded bad luck. I think external factors play a role in someone's life, but everything is based on chance and we can do what we can to increase our chances. We essentially make our own luck. Making "luck" some external factor and saying some people are destined to bad luck no matter what they do is completely false. Some people may try and fail, but that doesn't mean they're "naturally unlucky." That takes any responsibility away from the individual and further perpetuates some victimhood status.

You gave some extreme example before of someone who had a rough upbringing and saying nothing that happens in the future can change that. Of course not, but having bad "luck" in their upbringing doesn't mean their luck is still shitty in the future. If they play the lottery they have just as much a chance of winning as you or I. They can still find love, start a family, etc. There's no inherent bad luck from birth to the grave. Some people may have shitty lives, but their "luck" isn't something "natural."

[kinggovernor]

[motivez]

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

I guess it's a good thing you took libertarian from underneath your name

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by motivez

I guess it's a good thing you took libertarian from underneath your name

they have some really stupid questions

[avsp]

I hate these thing. so many of the questions are so loosly worded that theres only one possible answer.

as for 'luck'
things regardless of how skilled a person is at giving themselves more skills, greater flexibility etc there are still subject random things.

obviously some people randomly have a greater proportion of desirable outcomes & as such are 'naturally lucky' thus the answer has to be 'strongly agree'

i suppose the question is designed to test our definition of 'luck', 'naturally' etc

'criminal justice' doesnt have a 'primary' function at all

but well over half the questions are like that, ..., 'primarily', 'some', 'many' etc its just total boll*cks

[A_C_E]

I've taken it a few times and it's usually right more often than not. This test is one of the most reliable I've yet found.

[A_C_E]

Originally Posted by 7960

The only thing you can't control is your birth. All "luck" is created by the individual. To say someone is "naturally unlucky" means he has no responsibility for the situation when (except for birth) he most certainly does.

Surprisingly, I agree with this 100%.

But that's mostly as a result of being a compulsive gambler. I don't believe in luck.

[Thorgrim]

I can't believe people think they control the environment of when they were a child "oh when I was 8 I should have split that place and started my new job at the toy factory"...what a bunch of libertarian fantasy talk

your birth, and your environment forced upon you until you were 18, make you that 18 year old

Which is exactly why I give no blame to an 18 year old who murders his family and then himself, nor an 18 year old who dies in Afghanistan after joining the Army

They both have 0 control of how they ended up dead

One day we'll advance enough as a society where most educated people will finally accept that EVERY actioan we EVER take is dictated by genetics and environment

[nbiggershaft]

Originally Posted by A_C_E

Surprisingly, I agree with this 100%.

But that's mostly as a result of being a compulsive gambler. I don't believe in luck.

Yeah me too, years of poker have taught me how stupid it is that people convince themselves they are lucky or unlucky in general, and not just on a particular hand. So I don't accept the term anymore.

[nbiggershaft]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

I can't believe people think they control the environment of when they were a child "oh when I was 8 I should have split that place and started my new job at the toy factory"...what a bunch of libertarian fantasy talk

your birth, and your environment forced upon you until you were 18, make you that 18 year old

Which is exactly why I give no blame to an 18 year old who murders his family and then himself, nor an 18 year old who dies in Afghanistan after joining the Army

They both have 0 control of how they ended up dead

One day we'll advance enough as a society where most educated people will finally accept that EVERY actioan we EVER take is dictated by genetics and environment

How do you define yourself then? If you have zero 'control' over your actions, being predetermined paths in your brain (which I agree with), then 'you' don't really exist.

We can go into great philosophical depths on this, but if you are going to sit around discussing your personal beliefs and at the same time believing that the keystrokes you are typing are completely predetermined and every thought and action you have is just the result of a series of logical events, it's hypocrisy. If you choose to view it that way there is really no point, to anything, and I don't think the rest of us are that nihilistic.

[Thorgrim]

Originally Posted by nbiggershaft

How do you define yourself then? If you have zero 'control' over your actions, being predetermined paths in your brain (which I agree with), then 'you' don't really exist.

We can go into great philosophical depths on this, but if you are going to sit around discussing your personal beliefs and at the same time believing that the keystrokes you are typing are completely predetermined and every thought and action you have is just the result of a series of logical events, it's hypocrisy. If you choose to view it that way there is really no point, to anything, and I don't think the rest of us are that nihilistic.

I reject the thought that secular ethics shouldn't be endorsed and supported, it's not nihilism, it's not a philosophy it's reality

I want to point out an example...a kid is born in the isolated rural country, all his parents teach him is how to defuse a bomb, he is taught nothing else his entire life, he knows bombs inside out and his sole purpose as a kid, teenager, etc is to know everything about bombs and bomb defusion

When he turns 18 he sees a bomb in plain sight that will go off in 10 minutes, he knows from his vast knowledge that it is completely safe and he can do it with his eyes closed in 2 minuets, he's walking that way anyway, and he has been taught he always must defuse bombs, so without even thinking he defuses the bomb that would have killed 40 children

Now he's a hero...yeah

Same situation, but imagine the kid is instructed day after day that 6 years old girls are the devil and must be killed or else he will have failed god...again, nothing but that his entire life, and when he is 18 he steps outside his house with a gun, walks down the road, and sees a 6 year old girl and without thinking, shoots her...real villian right...yeah

You want to direct this towards me? Well first off, no one accepts the truth anyway, and most likely never will...we still have people who think the earth is flat

so I savor as much as my life as possible, and I'm enjoying it right now I am bored, so I am posting, I don't think I should get a medal for it, nor a fine

[avsp]

luck, good or bad, is very often the result of other peoples actions upon which you've no control whatsoever. other sources include the weather, genes etc

it might as well be treated as random

as its random a very few people, (some?), get a massively disproportionate number of 'good' outcomes these people have experienced 'natural good luck'

there is the issue of the number of 'goes' one has, as in the poker examples. obviously the more hands played the fewer the number of people who get a disproportionately high number of 'good' hands. How one plays the hands has nowt to do with 'liuck' at all


much of the debate isnt really talking about 'luck' but about foresight, preparedness & special pleading