The Lottery Jinx – Or Is It Just An Irrational Superstition?

I'm going to win the lottery! I'm going to be rich!

Oh no, did I just jinx myself?

Do you ever say that to yourself? I mean, do you believe that saying that you will win the lottery places a jinx on yourself? Some people believe that if you say that you will win the lottery, then you won't win it. So they believe that it's better to just hope you win it, but never mention it out loud. Is their any rationality to this? Or is it just an irrational superstition?

Well, the definition of a jinx is a superstition that a person, thing, or influence which is supposed to bring bad luck. The key word here is "superstition." By definition, a superstition is irrational.

Since a jinx is an irrational belief, it is just silly to think that saying out loud that you will win the lottery will cause you not to win it.

Don't believe me? Well, let's look at something in popular culture that has to do with jinxes. It is believed that if a professional athlete appears on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, it will place a jinx on him, causing him to under-perform, never again reaching the level of performance that got him on the front cover of the magazine in the first place. The media perpetuates this myth by giving examples of athletes that appeared on the front cover of Sports Illustrated and then blew it. Here are a few examples that they use:

• New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, appeared on the cover in September 2008. Then, in the first game of the season, he tore his ACL and MCL in his left knee.

• In April of 2010, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada of the New York Yankees appeared on the cover together. Within a week, Rivera, Petitte, and Posada suffered injuries and Jeter went on to have the worst season of his career.

There are tons more examples then this, which would lead some people to believe that jinxes really do exist. However, this sports jinx is merely something created by the media. There are even more examples of athletes that appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but never had it affect their performance at all. This things don't get reported by the media.

So what does this have to do with the supposed lottery jinx? It just goes to show that a jinx is something that is totally made up and, hence, an irrational superstition. It doesn't matter if you say out loud that you will win the lottery. That alone won't be the cause of you not winning it. The more likely explanation would be that you won't win it because the odds are not in your favor. By design, only a very few people actually win the lottery. It has to do with luck and nothing else.

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Source by Tino Sundin