Of course she was good luck, here is her yearbook picture...
Posted on 10/22/2008 9:52:17 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
Are you superstitious? I would like to tell you that I'm not superstitious but I can't. Although I wish I could pooh-pooh superstitions because of my utterly rational mind, I am forced to admit that I have too many cases of superstitions being proved correct in my life. The first time I really noticed how strong superstitions can be was when I was back in high school. This is what happened:
I used to take a bus to my high school. Anyway, in the 10th grade I became aware of a strange pattern. Whenever I had a test later in the day, I noticed that a car bringing a really ugly (and annoying) girl to the bus stop was always late. This girl really disgusted me because the bus was always crowded and because we both had to stand up, she slammed into me when the bus driver hit the brakes on our ride to the school.
At first when I saw the car in the distance trying to make it to the bus stop on time, I kept my mouth shut so the ugly girl would miss the bus (don't give me humanitarian lectures since I was a high school punk back then) and wouldn't slam into me while we went to school. Meanwhile, later that day, I would get no better than a mediocre C on whatever test I took.
However, once in a while, a rare humanitarian streak would hit me and I would tell the bus driver to hold up and wait for the car carrying the ugly girl. Whenever that happened, I always aced whatever test I took later that day.
At first I thought this was a strange coincidence but this pattern continued the next year. On all test days, the car carrying the ugly girl would always be running late. If I kept my mouth shut and made her miss the bus, I always did lousy in the tests. Whenever I told the bus driver to wait so the ugly girl can have time to get aboard, I aced the test. By the second half of the 11th grade, I finally caught on. From that point on I ALWAYS told the bus driver to wait for the ugly girl and I ALWAYS aced all tests I took that day.
My senior year was a breeze. I rarely studied or even cracked open a book. On top of that I had a poolboy job at a beach motel full of hot tourist chicks in the afternoons. And yet...I got straight As with no effort. Why? You guessed it. I ALWAYS told that bus driver to wait for the ugly girl and I ALWAYS got straight A's on ALL my tests. One day I even had to take a test in all of my classes and I still aced them all despite little or no studying.
The strangest thing is that the girl never showed up at all on days when I had no tests that day. It was only when I had a test (or more than one test) that she showed up late. And it always had the same pattern in that I would see her car (or rather mother's car) in the distance.
So now you know why I am very superstitious. Once or twice or maybe even ten times with this event occurring could be marked up to coincidence. But MANY times over the years with the exact SAME pattern? I chalk that up to strange forces at work thus my superstition.
Superstition has obvious survival value. We correlate favorable outcomes with events or conditions and unfavorable outcomes with other events or conditions. Since we are rarely in a position to uncover “root cause” the mental association of success with behavior is a short cut that has proven effective.
In the case you cite, person recollection (anecdotal data) is notoriously unreliable. Maybe there was something to it, maybe you were more relaxed not feeling guilty about crossing up the ugly chick, or maybe you are simply the beneficiary of selective recall.
Or maybe it's divine intervention.
After going hitless for a while, White Sox outfielder Minnie Minoso figured his bad luck resulted from his uniform. So still in cleats, he showered with it on. After he got three hits the next day, eight of his teammates joined him fully clothed in the shower.
Pagan says yes.
Pagan also hints at intelligent design. LOL
Pagan also says there is indeed a rational explanation for your test results, at least, but at a loss to explain the appearances.
Why? Um, pagan?...Hello?
I’m Irish, Scots and Welsh. [and Danish]
I have a superstition for *everything*.
[at least I came by it honestly]
We have a friend who is wildly superstitious about Friday the 13th.
He also knows the one about “rubbing a red head for luck”.
If I was unfortunate enough that we were riding with him on one of those ‘awful days’, I came home with a sore scalp because every time we came to a stop light or got off the bikes, he’d rub my head like crazy.
You were feeling better, and in a more charitable mood, when you first began to notice this “effect.” This was due to your being prepared for your upcoming test(s). On the days when you were feeling bad, and in an uncharitable mood, you knew you were not prepared, and were stressed out because of it. Over time, you began to associate your success on tests to the effect, rather than the cause. But, since you believed you’d do well, you did. It had nothing to do with the girl. It was all mental on your part.
Non sequitur *ping*
: )
I think it was Diahann Carroll (wow, I spelled her correctly the first time!)who recalled that back when she was beginning her career on Broadway, she’d bring her baby with her to rehearsals, and her co-workers would rush to rub the baby’s head - it was considered good luck to do it to a black baby. Is it still, cause I see a few of them on my public transport commutes?
BTW, I also avoid the number 13. Whenever I see a pump 13 at a gas station I make sure not to use it.
Somewhat...and I don't know why.
Yes?
Paul Auster, who has been criticized for clumsy plot turns in his novels (like unbelieveable coincidences to move the plots forward), defends himself in one of his non-fiction works, which tend to be better than his novels, by citing numerous coincidences and lucky encounters in his own life.
I believe that there is something mysterious out there ruling these things.
Of course she was good luck, here is her yearbook picture...
That's called confirmation bias(^). which is the tendency to interpret information in a way that confirms your preconceptions and at the same time avoids interpretations which might contradict prior beliefs.
Are you superstitious? And why?
Not very. I try very hard to root out any superstitions I might have, confront them, and rid myself of them. I vastly prefer rational thought.
Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate
LOL!
I hit him with my Toyota.
Yeesh
With years of therapy and powerful drugs there is hope for your.....let me reread your post....sorry, This sounds like a case of Humpty-Dumpty Mind Syndrome and Dr. Imanut says it can’t be put back together again.
Call it a silly superstition but it allowed me to breeze through my senior year of high school.
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