FOXSYLVANIA

– – 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…