Win a car in a lottery - an unattainable dream or reality?

For a long time there is a statistic that says that the less a person earns, the more often he buys lottery tickets in the hope of breaking a jackpot or winning a car. And despite the fact that the probability of winning is even less than when playing in a casino, people over and over again buy for their blood hope for a new life.

The research data of Adam Pior

For example: in the National Lottery of Great Britain the chance to win the main prize is 1: 14 million. Despite such a miserable likelihood of getting rich, every week in the UK, 32 million people buy an average of three lottery tickets.

The research of Adam Pior suggests that the human brain is not able to objectively perceive the coefficients of probability, but can only answer the question: "Yes or no?". That is, for a person that the possibility of winning theoretically exists, it means that you need to play, and luck has to smile. If you win a car maybe, why not try it? The brain of an ancient man also estimated the danger posed by wild animals, and the possibility of successful hunting.

The George Lowenstein theory

From the point of view of Georges Levenshtein, professor of economics and psychology, it is always easier for a person to buy a lottery ticket in the hope of getting a large sum of money or winning a car than making complex mathematical calculations, assessing the chances of winning. If the calculations are too complicated and confusing, people always choose the answer "yes", after calling it "the sixth sense."

When making a decision to buy a lottery ticket, the players in their imagination are already spending their money, and winning the car seems like a nerve-wrack, so the price of a lottery ticket seems negligible compared to future wealth.

Why do people play the lottery?

When the economy of the country is feverish, when the exchange rate fluctuates and prices grow, people lose a sense of control over their lives. Few people are able to predict what the next economic crisis may turn out and keep calm and confidence in the future, watching how savings melt. In such periods, there is a surge in sales of lottery tickets in all countries. Again, discounts, promotions, the "Win a car" competition are standard methods of increasing the sales of products of various retail chains in the face of tough struggle for a few impoverished customers.

And the poor are the first to react. They think that there is nothing to lose, and you can get a lot if you win, so the chance to get out of poverty in their eyes costs much more than a few dollars spent on buying a lottery ticket.

Lottery is an ancient gambling game

In ancient times, the lottery was a kind of way to learn the will of the gods in difficult controversial situations. The lot was determined, pardoned or executed, the criminal is guilty or not, to start a war or make peace, who will receive the land allotment, and whose family will go hungry. He, the lot, determined the legislators. In mythology, with its help, the victim of the Minotaur was chosen. And in ancient China, they came up with the help of a lottery to raise funds to help the poor and to build the Great Wall of China. Queen Elizabeth in the UK with the help of a lottery raised funds to finance the war.

The mystical side of the lottery

The Latin term lotteria itself is interpreted rather not as a possibility of monetary or other winnings, but as destiny or destiny. According to Italian myths, the lottery is a ritual of the distribution of human souls between the bodies of newborn children.

One of the meanings of the word lot is fate, fate, that is, a list of qualities, inclinations and talents measured at birth. This is the part of fate that can not be changed, subject only to some external higher powers and circumstances. For example, it is impossible to choose parents, time of birth, race.

The lottery is sometimes called a tax on stupidity or a victory of hope over common sense. This is due to the incredibly low probability of winning. But the romance will never pass by the bright poster "Action! Win a car - and at sea! "After all, it may be that not everything in this world can be explained by probability theory or mathematical statistics. There is still a lot. And, maybe, it is prescribed to be rich in it, and you just need to believe it, stop and take riches by buying a lottery ticket on the way to a boring, unloved work. And if a person is not ready to win, and in a lot he does not have wealth, then the money from the "lucky" and will not be delayed. There are a lot of sad stories about how those who won huge sums in the lottery later lost this money to the casino, became victims of robbers, perished from drugs and so on. And where is the math? This is their lot.

Therefore, there are so many lotteries, promotions, invitations to win a car in 2014, a trip to the islands, a new laptop, etc. After all, the mind calculates the probability, and the soul whispers: "Suddenly!"