I’m sure everyone has experienced all this
talk about the lottery this past week.
The Mega Millions was up to $640 million, a world-record. My friends and I rushed to a local BP
to buy our tickets… but what are the odds we’d actually win? Most of my friends are pretty
pessimistic about the lottery, but I always think “what if”… I mean, someone
has to win.
Everyone knows that the probability of winning
the lottery is a very long, long shot.
However, I never really thought carefully about it. While experiencing the hype from this
lottery, I researched what the odds are.
I found that single state lotteries usually have the odds of about 18
million to 1, while multiple state lotteries have odds of around 120 million to
1. Basically, we have no
shot. We are more likely to get
struck by lightening or die from flesh-eating bacteria than win the lottery.
When you buy a lottery ticket, I’m sure
everyone has had that slight hope that they’ll be the lucky one to beat the
odds- I know I have. Although the
odds are not in anyone’s favor, the lottery really is a game. Everyone wants that one prize. We are hoping that we’ll be able to
beat out everyone else. Although
the odds are not in our favor, there’s always that slight, one out of 18 and
120 million, possibility that we may win.
-Brooke Kranz
-Brooke Kranz
So, I happen to be one of those "pessimistic friends" that you dragged to BP the other night, and I'm not going to deny it - I am pessimistic about it, but it's only because of the horrible odds you just previously stated!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, naturally, I do sometimes wonder: "what if?" However, for me, I would just rather partake in another type of game where my odds are higher. In my psych 280 class, we have been discussing the concept of the social exchange theory. This is the social psychological and sociological perspective that measures stability and social change in terms of costs and rewards. In order for social change to come about, a person's rewards must outweigh their costs. In the case of the lottery, I simply do not think that my rewards balance out the costs. I definitely see the lottery as a game and form of play. The feeling I get when I hold my ticket up against the winning one is an extremely exhilarating one. However, in the end, I would just rather choose a game that is not as costly for me. To conclude, I'm sorry to say that I was and still am that pessimistic friend.
I happen to believe in the luck of the draw and think this is a worthwhile game! While I would never spend a ton of money buying lottery tickets, I don't think the small change you pay on these lottery tickets is going to hurt anyone's pocket who is buying these tickets in the first place. With that being sad, why not play the game and take that tiny chance for that tiny amount of money that you will become a millionaire?
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