Superstition indicates that having a four-leaf clover grants good luck.
Luck is a chain of events that is considered casual or fortuitous . Those who believe in luck maintain that living conditions can depend on destiny or the existence and use of amulets .
For example: "I had so much bad luck that, when I got to the beach, it started to rain" , "Marcelo is very lucky: yesterday he found a lot of money on the street" , "Julieta carries a four-leaf clover in her pocket to attract good luck."
Luck and superstition
Superstition holds that certain objects or behaviors (such as a horseshoe, a four-leaf clover, a rabbit's foot, crossing your fingers, or knocking on wood) bring good luck. Other things, however, generate bad luck: a black cat, breaking a mirror, spilling salt or opening an umbrella inside a house. And in both cases, the list goes on.
One of the weak points of superstition is seen when observing that it takes different forms in each culture. For example, the Japanese do not attach any negative meaning to opening an umbrella inside a home and, when they do it in front of a Western person, they are often surprised by their reaction .
Many artists, famous and not so famous, perform certain actions before going on stage so that their presentations are successful. From praying to throwing an object against a wall, they seek the protection of some entity, which offers them what their jargon does not allow them to mention: luck.
According to rationalism, luck does not exist, but phenomena can be explained according to the laws of probability.
rationalism
For rationalists , luck does not exist. What is considered good or bad luck can be explained by applying the laws of probability . If a balcony falls on a person , this does not speak of his luck; The deterioration that the building has suffered up to the time of the accident causes the structure to detach, regardless of who is passing underneath.
Reason also opposes the logical fallacies of amulets . For example, if someone who believes he has a shirt that brings good luck finds a job the first day he wears it to an interview, he may well rely on that anecdote to try to confirm the veracity of his superstition; However, a rationalist will always lean towards explanations that respond to the principles of statistics.
Since believing in luck does not harm anyone, everyone should be free to explain seemingly random situations as they can and wish. Furthermore, just as no person can prove that an amulet changed their luck, there is no scientist capable of unquestionably proving the opposite.
Other considerations about luck
There is a tendency to believe that luck is the product of a series of factors that we can control, such as our state of mind and the decisions we make around a certain objective. It is said that those who remain positive in the face of challenges and do not stop fighting until they get what they are looking for, are more likely to achieve it than those who doubt and announce failure even before starting; The first attracts good luck, while the second, bad luck.
Luck can also be linked to spiritual beliefs . For believers, certain rituals or practices (such as praying) cause supernatural forces to influence the physical world and favor luck.
Synonym of type, genus or species
Another meaning of the word luck defines it as a synonym for species , genus or type , and its use is not very normal in everyday speech, but is usually found in written language.
Generally, it denotes a certain difficulty in finding an accurate comparison; For example: the sentence "He took a few flowers and sketched a kind of centerpiece" suggests that the quality or finish of the floral arrangement does not convince the narrator, either because he does not like it or because it does not have a very good appearance. definite.