Scientifically speaking, is there such a thing as luck?

Question

Scientifically speaking, is there such a thing as luck?

Answer 1

All luck is is receiving a positive outcome on the basis of an improbable event.  It is highly improbable that you will win a game of coin toss 8 times in a row against your friend.  Yet, if it happens, you are very lucky.  

Scientifically speaking, luck happens.  In the above example, it will happen 1 of every 256 times.

Answer 2

Yes, more or less -- better known as chance or serendipity. Not good or bad luck, though -- that's a subjective thing.

Answer 3

Yes there is.

In fact it's impossible to understand almost anything about subatomic particles without understanding probability and statistics.

Give you an example:

Radioactive decay.

We know for a fact that some types of atoms decay.

For example, carbon-14 atoms will spontaneously kick out a beta particle, and turn themselves into nitrogen-14 atoms.

We also know that the rate of decay is constant.

In 5730 years, half of the c-14 atoms you started with will have decayed.  Regardless of how many you started with.

Now here's the unanswered question:

If it were possible to mark a single c-14 atom, and observe it for 5730 years (ok, so they got a government grant that got renewed every year):

That one atom, will it, or won't it, decay?

(stop for a moment, and think about it)

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The best answer science can give is:

We don't know.  It has a 50/50 chance.

But, if several million atoms each have a 50/50 chance, then from what we know of the laws of probability (higher math), half of them will, and half of them won't.

Answer 4

No. People guesses or actions towards gamballing have nothing to deal with luck