“Is someone who plays a Big 4 lottery number, say, 1234, over and over again INSANE?”
from Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, p. 108:
“There is not a more certain proposition ... than that the more [lottery] tickets you adventure upon, the more likely you are to be a loser. Adventure upon all the tickets in the lottery, and you lose for certain; and the greater the number of your tickets the nearer you approach to this certainty.”
Of course, playing the same number isn’t what is insane; it’s playing the lottery over and over that’s nutty.
I didn’t say playing the lottery is smart. But it certainly isn’t INSANE.