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Friday the 13th

A_Feeble_Mind

Thinker
A_Feeble_Mind
Joined
Jun 26, 2002
Messages
218
As I noticed the date today, I couldn't help but wonder if there were still people who held that today brought bad luck. Do any of you know someone who fears this day?
 
Can't say I know anyone either. Although I must still shake my head everytime I get into an office building downtown and notice the lack of a 13th floor.
 
I think most people don't think of it until something happens and then they notice what the date is. Of course, misfortunes happen to people every day, ranging from the merely inconvenient to the catastrophic, yet sadly, when these things happen on Friday 13th, many of them will be attributed to the fact that it is Friday 13th. No one ever stops to wonder, though, what the controlling force for such a thing would be. This has to be one of the sillier superstitions.
 
A National Geographic article says that between 17 and 21 million people in the U.S. are afflicted with this fear and that $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day!

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0212_040212_friday13.html

Sad and pathetic, yes, but an issue like any other paranormal belief. It would be easy to think that people couldn't possibly find any rational basis in something like Friday the 13th, but they do just like others that put faith in astrology or tarot cards, etc.

It's up to rational people to continue to lead a crusade against irrational thought.
 
[RevLovejoysWife]What about the GRADIENT?[/RevLovejoysWife] ;-)

What I'd like to know is this: Today is Friday the Thirteenth, supposed to be a day of evil omen. Tomorrow is the annual celebration of love and romance, Valentine's Day.

Doesn't this set up a terribly strong gradient of luck along the midnight boundary? (Think of Weather Channel isobaric maps.) Gamblers and aleatoric composers would be smart to keep an eye on the time, as effects could become turbulent as the date boundary approaches.

O.O

Meffy
who sincerely hopes nobody takes this concept seriously and runs with it
 
One of our T1 lines was down this morning. Sure enough, someone in the office pointed out that today is Friday the thirteenth...
 
I always tell people it's my lucky day.

Occasionally somebody goes ballistic. Mostly they just snicker.
 
I'm protected, afterall, we have a feng shui crystal hanging in our office.....of course since they hung that dang crystal, two of us in the office have hurt our backs, so what does that tell you!!
 
A_Feeble_Mind said:
As I noticed the date today, I couldn't help but wonder if there were still people who held that today brought bad luck. Do any of you know someone who fears this day?
Click to expand...

I'm sure the skeptics would love to hear of people that are! LOL "A feeble mind", is this really the best you can do?? Do you have any positive arguments for the skeptical belief system?? ;) Go on, give me a heart attack! :)
 
pleiades61 said:
A National Geographic article says that between 17 and 21 million people in the U.S. are afflicted with this fear and that $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day!

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0212_040212_friday13.html

Sad and pathetic, yes, but an issue like any other paranormal belief. It would be easy to think that people couldn't possibly find any rational basis in something like Friday the 13th, but they do just like others that put faith in astrology or tarot cards, etc.

It's up to rational people to continue to lead a crusade against irrational thought.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm...this is interesting! Do you have any arguments to suggust that tarot cards and astrology are just as irrational as Friday the 13th?

Furthermore, do you have any evidence that skeptics are rational?? I've never seen any evidence of it. Please enlighten me :)
 
Ian said:
Do you have any arguments to suggust that tarot cards and astrology are just as irrational as Friday the 13th?
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Nope. I think it's way more rational to presume that someone can shuffle a deck and read my fortune than it is to presume that a particular date could have an effect on the events in my life. And it's certainly more rational to presume that the position of the planets at the moment of my birth could have an effect on the events in my life.

~~ Paul
 
Re: Re: Friday the 13th

Interesting Ian said:
I'm sure the skeptics would love to hear of people that are! LOL "A feeble mind", is this really the best you can do?? Do you have any positive arguments for the skeptical belief system?? ;) Go on, give me a heart attack! :)
Click to expand...
The "skeptical belief system"? Is that the best you can do after all this time? You should know by now that skepticism is not a belief system; it is a method for evaluating claims. And if you could come up with a better system I'd use it.
 
One of our manufacturing leaders was having a very bad day, everything seemed to be going wrong. She was blaming it on the 13th and she was not kidding. She's not feeble minded, and can be skeptical when the job requires it.

I think some people compartmentalize their thinking better than others.

I hear that if you are born on a 13th day it is supposed to be your lucky day instead of an unlucky one.
 
Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I had a wonderful Friday the 13th. I read some good news in the paper (see politics if you care about that). Had a great lunch with friends and relatives. Bought some flowers for my gorgeous wife. Had a relaxing evening, including a movie and some posting on my favorite boards. Now it's the 14th (Valentine's day) and I expect my good luck to continue.

Why is it that triskadecaphobes always ignore stories like mine?
 
Originally posted by Interesting Ian
Hmmmm...this is interesting! Do you have any arguments to suggust that tarot cards and astrology are just as irrational as Friday the 13th?
Click to expand...

Does not the burden rest upon you to prove that those things are rational and not mine as you suggest?
 
pleiades61 said:

Originally posted by Interesting Ian
Hmmmm...this is interesting! Do you have any arguments to suggust that tarot cards and astrology are just as irrational as Friday the 13th?



Does not the burden rest upon you to prove that those things are rational and not mine as you suggest?
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Not all things are equally irrational you know.

Anyway, it's no good just stating things are irrational. You have to explain why they are. Do you intend to do this?

It makes no sense to me for you to say prove something is rational. If it is logically possible, then it is rational. yes?
 
Interesting Ian said:

Furthermore, do you have any evidence that skeptics are rational?? I've never seen any evidence of it. Please enlighten me
Click to expand...

Originally posted by Interesting Ian

If it is logically possible, then it is rational. yes?
Click to expand...

It is logically possible that skeptics are rational, therefore, skeptics are rational by your logic. If your own logic isn't sufficient evidence, what is?
 
Bonzo said:
Originally posted by Interesting Ian

Furthermore, do you have any evidence that skeptics are rational?? I've never seen any evidence of it. Please enlighten me



quote:Originally posted by Interesting Ian

If it is logically possible, then it is rational. yes?

Bonzo

It is logically possible that skeptics are rational, therefore, using your own logic, skeptics are rational.
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You fail to understand. Unless something is logically impossible you cannot a priori assert something is irrational without giving evidence and/or reasons.
 
Interesting Ian said:


You fail to understand. Unless something is logically impossible you cannot a priori assert something is irrational without giving evidence and/or reasons.
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No, I do understand. I am merely questioning your statement that you have seen no evidence that skeptics are rational. Since you apparently understood my previous post, regardless of whether you agree with it, you must admit it was a rational statement.

You cannot provide evidence that it is logically impossible for skeptics to be rational. Therefore, using your statement above, you cannot assert a priori they are irrational without evidence or reasons. You said it yourself.

If you believe skeptics are irrational, than you must have evidence and/or reasons. That's all I'm saying.
 
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