I watch this atheist movie and the theme behind it was "Luck"

[james bond]

I recently enjoyed an atheist movie. It's not really a religious movie. However, the director sounds like he is one or has become one from his comments. See his quote below. I can tell you it's about a former tennis pro who thinks luck is the supreme determinant in life. In other words, from an atheist pov, if there is no God, then it's "luck" which is the supreme determinant for one's life. It's a neo-noir movie.

The video got good reviews and is from 2005. The first hour sets up the characters and circumstances. The last hour takes us into some twists and turns.

It's called Match Point.

"One reason for the fascination of Woody Allen's "Match Point" is that each and every character is rotten. This is a thriller not about good versus evil, but about various species of evil engaged in a struggle for survival of the fittest -- or, as the movie makes clear, the luckiest. "I'd rather be lucky than good," Chris, the tennis pro from Ireland, tells us as the movie opens, and we see a tennis ball striking the net - it is pure luck which side it falls on. Chris' own good fortune depends on just such a lucky toss of a coin." - Roger Ebert

Match Point Movie Review & Film Summary (2006) | Roger Ebert

“To you, I'm an atheist.
To God, I'm the loyal opposition.”
― Woody Allen

 

[james bond]

The atheist director Woody Allen seems to be saying that "luck" is what determines one's life.

If so, then what is luck?

Here is an example. An accountant is cheating on his company and takes a few dollars out every day and transfers it into his account. He is able to explain to everyone what the cost is and where it goes. It's only a few dollars, so it is not noticed right away. An auditor finds out and makes a report, but dies of a heart attack the day he is supposed to turn in his report. The cheater gets away with for fifty years and retires a wealthy man.

Or a man robs an AM-PM gas station. He takes a few hundred dollars, but on the way out he punches himself a lottery ticket and wins $100 million dollars. He is caught on tape for the robbery, but is able to hire a lawyer with his winnings to defend him to keep him out of jail. He ends up with an easy life.

Is luck the biggest factor to determine one's life or is there something else?

To expand it to another level, it was luck that invisible particles caused the Big Bang and the universe that we live in. Or it was luck that amino acids formed the first protein and eventually a simple life form in the universe.

 

[Sunstone]

Luck is a superstitious interpretation of chance.

 

[james bond]

Luck is a superstitious interpretation of chance.

I'm talking not about being superstitious which most gamblers are. I'm talking about the one-in-a-million type of occurrence. For example, we have a fair coin with a head and a tail on each side. I want 100 consecutive heads to occur. The coin is tossed billions of times and the 100 consecutive heads occurs. We have randomness as the coin's been examined and determined to be fair. It would take supreme luck for 100 consecutive heads to occur.

We have many musicians for example, but few become celebrities and rock stars. Or we have hundreds of thousands of people who want to become professional sports stars. Only a few reach the top. Is it just talent that helped them reach the pinnacle? No. Luck played a part.

So that's what I am asking. What is luck? What is it that only a few out of billions of people end up with success and riches beyond their wildest dreams?

To me, luck is favorable outcome of something desired in life. We say education is a main factor in determining one's success in life. However, there are those few who dropped out of high school and achieved success and wealth beyond those who got a college degree.

 

[Sha'irullah]

Luck is just fancification for the odds one faces when they are royally screwed. I find it irrelevant unless it works in my favor. I do not think anybody dwells on chance after they are done playing poker.

 

[Augustus]

Randomness plays a significant part in life, although due to randomness it affects some people more than others.

Also, you still have to take advantage of positive random events if/when they occur and protect yourself from negative randomness. Some people are better at doing this than others and so get more than their fair share of good 'luck'.

 

[fantome profane]

Luck is just a word people use because they can't understand large numbers. When something happens that is a one in a million chance they call it luck. But they don't have a word for the nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine times that one in million thing did not happen.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Those are Ironic poll options to me. It is because of mistakenly substituting 'God' for 'LORD' in the Bible. When the term 'LORD' appears, fortune is determined by moral choices; but your basic luck is still luck. The wise may fall unlimited times, but they keep getting back up -- but they still get knocked down. The fool falls into mischief. Fortune befalls them both. (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, dreidels, prophets etc.)

 

[Kuzcotopia]

To expand it to another level, it was luck that invisible particles caused the Big Bang and the universe that we live in. Or it was luck that amino acids formed the first protein and eventually a simple life form in the universe.

Whoa, slow down. It's just a movie.

Okay fine.

No, it isn't lucky. In fact, the conditions are the planet are extremely unlucky. It was decidedly bad luck that we require respiration for our energy through an elaborate food chain to survive, processing dead organic matter like a cheap coal engine and trying to chemically strip away the bonds that hold the sun's energy.

Millions of children under the age of 5 die from malnutrition every year, because they can't get enough of this dead organic matter.

 

[suncowiam]

What about smart decisions and hard work?

Both luck and God are in the same category in my book.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

You can't gauge the life impact of a few favorable chance outcomes with a few what-ifs and an internet fourm poll. The question of luck vs hard word is not a new question and it has absolutely nothing to do with atheism.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

I am sure if you looked into how opportunity and hard work plays a role in advancing people's lives and careers, you could find many well researched articles on it. I bet none of them separate it along the lines of atheist and theist, as in this respects they both belong to the same group.

Personally, I believe hard work is far more important than luck. Some people waste their lives waiting for luck.

 

[Revoltingest]

"Luck" is a value laden synonym of "chance".
I attribute life's results to both luck & smarts.
But even smarts could be attributed to luck imposed by genetics & environment.
Hence....<other>.

 

[james bond]

Those are Ironic poll options to me. It is because of mistakenly substituting 'God' for 'LORD' in the Bible. When the term 'LORD' appears, fortune is determined by moral choices; but your basic luck is still luck. The wise may fall unlimited times, but they keep getting back up -- but they still get knocked down. The fool falls into mischief. Fortune befalls them both. (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, dreidels, prophets etc.)

In my Bible, it's God or Lord. In other Bibles that I have seen, such as from JW, it's Jehovah.

I agree with you about luck. It's still luck. However, I want to be clear about this luck. It's supreme luck. One can be attribute it to God, gods, talent, education, skills or what, but whatever innate ability one has, it's still was luck that made them the superstar they are today. Other people could have the same level of it, but being in the right place at the right time made them so.

For example, George Lucas was somewhat successful with two movies THX-1138 and American Graffiti. What if he made Starship Troopers instead of Star Wars? It went on for a couple of more sequels. Then George's last movie bombed and we haven't heard from again. Thus, Lucas was successful with his movies, but wasn't lucky enough to propel him into the stratosphere. That is the kind of luck I am referring to -- supreme luck.

 

[james bond]

Luck is just fancification for the odds one faces when they are royally screwed. I find it irrelevant unless it works in my favor. I do not think anybody dwells on chance after they are done playing poker.

Poker is a game of skill. We have those superstars that turned their skills into fame and fortune through Texas Hold 'Em or Baccarat. We have people who have the skill, but why did the few become superstars and earn millions? It's luck.

 

[james bond]

Randomness plays a significant part in life, although due to randomness it affects some people more than others.

Also, you still have to take advantage of positive random events if/when they occur and protect yourself from negative randomness. Some people are better at doing this than others and so get more than their fair share of good 'luck'.

When I say randomness, it is referring to a fair event. Randomness means a fair event. There may be multiple outcomes, but the results of the outcome are fair, i.e. the rules were stated and written in advance. It isn't as if someone rigged an event to make the outcome one way. We just had that. The Democrats in the US want to change the election rules so the straight majority wins now.

 

[james bond]

Whoa, slow down. It's just a movie.

Okay fine.

No, it isn't lucky. In fact, the conditions are the planet are extremely unlucky. It was decidedly bad luck that we require respiration for our energy through an elaborate food chain to survive, processing dead organic matter like a cheap coal engine and trying to chemically strip away the bonds that hold the sun's energy.

Millions of children under the age of 5 die from malnutrition every year, because they can't get enough of this dead organic matter.

Sure, it's a movie, but I wanted to discuss the idea behind it which is luck is the supreme determinant in life. The fact that it was made by an atheist may not have anything to do with it.

As for God, we attribute negative factors more to God in some areas such as your example. Another example, we have weather disasters labeled as Acts of God.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

When I say randomness, it is referring to a fair event. Randomness means a fair event. There may be multiple outcomes, but the results of the outcome are fair, i.e. the rules were stated and written in advance. It isn't as if someone rigged an event to make the outcome one way. We just had that. The Democrats in the US want to change the election rules so the straight majority wins now.

"There may be multiple outcomes, but the results of the outcome are fair, i.e. the rules were stated and written in advance. "

That is not what that means. A fair event in terms of probability means all possible outcomes have an equal chance of happening. A fair die roll means all sides have an equal probability of being rolled. It is this equal probability that makes the event random, as such there are no naturally occurring "fair events". There are no "fair events" in your life, as there will always be a varying degree of probability on the possible outcomes.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

Is luck the biggest factor to determine one's life or is there something else?

This is your core question here, but luck is considered to be a chance event; one that is unlikely to happen. Therefore it is not reasonable to assume it is the "biggest factor" as if it was, then it would a normal event; one that is likely to happen and then it would not be considered luck.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

Poker is a game of skill. We have those superstars that turned their skills into fame and fortune through Texas Hold 'Em or Baccarat. We have people who have the skill, but why did the few become superstars and earn millions? It's luck.

When measuring probability, cherry picking a few examples proves nothing.