Really Bad Luck…
– – If not for bad luck, some people wouldn’t have any luck at all. Consider the case of a guy in Raleigh, North Carolina who earlier this month was mauled by a black bear in his front yard, ending up with a deep gouge in his wrist…
…bad luck, right?–But as a topper, the same guy was struck by lightning four years ago! Now the odds of being attacked by a bear and surviving in any given year are one in 28 million, while the odds of being struck by lightning in a year and surviving are one in 1.213 million. The odds of being both struck by lightning and mauled by a bear and surviving both in a four year span of time are 1 in 372 trillion! Now some would say that such a person is either doomed to suffer more or is due for good luck, but such belief is what is called a gambler’s fallacy, and has no place in statistics; one event has no bearing on the other.
And did I forget to mention?- -The gentleman afflicted by both events is a minister, who may be seen as extremely unlucky or cursed for what happened to him, or lucky and perhaps blessed because he survived both. It’s all a matter of perspective, really…
Tags: bear mauling, unlucky people
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June 26, 2010 at 11:59 pm
Just the same; if I were him? I wouldn’t go swimming in the ocean, this side of ever. Because, if what they say about lightning strikes-compared-to-shark attacks is true…!!!
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June 27, 2010 at 8:06 pm
As for me, I’ll continue to grow a neurosis about a less than favorable encounter with an asteroid, or worry about what will go down in December of 2012…
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June 29, 2010 at 8:19 pm
As Fox Mulder might say: “The Zeta Reticulans are coming! The Zeta Reticulans are coming!”
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June 30, 2010 at 1:07 am
Take me!–Take me!–I’m ready!–Puh-leese take me!
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