Part of me just feels that there is no way you can ever match 6 out of 6 (or even 5 out of 5) numbers without some sort of “guidance”. Maybe there truly are powerful supernatural forces that can do magical things as long as you believe in them?

The sheer astronomical unlikelihood of winning is staggering and intimidating. But I’ve had a really interesting thought lately that makes me ponder. I came across a terrible video online that I recommend none of you watch. A man was driving down a highway somewhere in Russia with his mother in the passenger seat. His dashcam captured the following events. A flatbed truck full of bricks was traveling in the opposite lane, coming TOWARD the driver. About 50 feet before they passed each other, 1 single brick came loose from the back of the truck and bounced along the pavement and landed through the drivers front windshield. The brick hit his mother who was sat in the passenger seat in the face and killed her instantly. The video itself has no gore, but it is horrible and I do not recommend it.

It did get me thinking though about life, the universe, and the unfathomable amount of sequences it took for that to happen. Had either the driver of the truck, or driver of the car been going 1 mph slower or faster, the brick never would have hit her. Had either man stopped to tie his shoe or pick up a coin at the start of the day, the brick never would have hit her. The variables are truly infinite and it is quite honestly mind-boggling. The sheer amount of BAD luck you need to have for that to happen rivals the sheer amount of GOOD luck you need to win the jackpot. It is like “winning” the anti-lottery. It blows my mind how these type of astronomically and theoretically impossible events can happen and do happen to people all the time, whether they are good or bad. The universe actually doesn’t care if the event is terrible (dying randomly) or amazing (winning a jackpot). It shows no bias.

For this reason alone, I have had serious doubts lately that life is just a series of random events and sequences. Lately I’ve been more open to the possibility that we have some sort of control based on our positive or negative subconscious/conscious thoughts. Maybe there really is some sort of “law of attraction” and its not total bulls~~~. And if that is the case, then maybe winning the lottery is actually a possibility. Getting hit in the face with a f~~~ing brick that randomly fell off a truck has to be up there on the list of “extremely unlikely events”. But that s~~~ happened/happens. And if the universe is supposedly all about balance, then an extremely unlikely negative event occurring is just as likely as an extremely unlikey positive event occurring. So maybe with the power of belief I can actually win the lottery, or get hit by a comet. One or the other.

I would like to hear some of your opinions. Thanks

How in touch with spirituality are you?

It sounds like your not having enough money.

Do you actually have everything you need?

What is you want with your life?

Does any of this speak to you?

I did a thread on it a couple of weeks ago.I have thought along the lines of what you have written.

A “one in a million” chance doesn’t mean much when you’ve got 300,000,000 chances. That means you’ll statistically get three hundred hits.

As for winning the lottery, let’s say the odds of winning the California Super Lotto Jackpot are 1 in 41 million. Of course, the more tickets you buy, the greater your chances of winning. 2 tickets increases your chance to 1 in 20.5 million, 4 increases it to 1 in 10.25 million, 10 increases it to 1 in 4.1 million, etc. That could get expensive but it does increase the odds of you winning.

But when you consider a situation wherein 400+ million people buy a lottery ticket and exclude for duplicate number purchases, the odds that SOMEONE will hit go up dramatically. This is why it’s so unusual for the summed lottery value to get exceptionally high. Someone wins nearly every time the lotto is played.

So it’s not a matter of “difficult” as it’s random (or as nearly so as can be, if you believe the game to not be rigged) but rather “improbable” for an individual to win. Highly improbably. But given more and more players selecting more and more of the pool of unique numbers, it’s almost guaranteed that someone will pick the numbers that turn out to be the ones drawn.

There’s just no way to make sure that it’s you.

And the “law of attraction” is for fat ugly Oprah viewers and children. There’s no such thing as bending the lows of the universe just because you wish for something really really bad.

What you CAN do, on the other hand, is what I call “probability branching”, though I’m sure it has a real name somewhere. This is the process by which you make a decision that produces a desirable outcome for you and that decision opens up branches of other possible decisions that afford more desirable outcomes. By doing this you can branch your way into a very nice life position, but it’s really just a string of virtuous choices leading to rewarding outcomes.

Remember this works both ways, though. You go to that party and choose to do coke in the toilet you may get to bang the dealer’s girlfriend, but doing so opens up a branch of options which lead to other branches of options which will almost certainly end up with you drowning in a pool of your own vomit. Say no to the coke, leave the party before the heroin and cops arrive and you might find yourself on a much better branch.

That’s how you get ahead in life… virtuous choices that lead to desirable outcomes and branches of other choices which afford more of the same.

I previously worked where there were three Native American casinos within 50 miles and would have to listen to the statistically challenged try to regale me with their attempts to beat the system. They would laugh when I told them “I don’t gamble, I buy stocks” So, I got to retire early and they are still yanking that slot machine handle and buying those lottery tickets in a futile attempt to get rich quick. If you are young, stick you meager money in a Vanguard S&P500 index fund with low fees at the bottom of the market and let it grow.

As for winning the lottery, let’s say the odds of winning the California Super Lotto Jackpot are 1 in 41 million. Of course, the more tickets you buy, the greater your chances of winning. 2 tickets increases your chance to 1 in 20.5 million, 4 increases it to 1 in 10.25 million, 10 increases it to 1 in 4.1 million, etc. That could get expensive but it does increase the odds of you winning.

I don’t think that’s correct. I’m sure if you buy 1 ticket the chances of winning are 1 in 41 million. Buy 2 tickets it’s 2 in 41 million
3 tickets, the chances are 3 in 41 million
4 tickets is 4 in 41 million.
Etc etc.