Superstition, Luck and Vodoo

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darkhorse
quote:
It's a titanic struggle to believe that life is meaningless and we are destined to be worm food

Originally posted by MainFramer
Actually, its worst than that. A few minutes later, we are destined to be worm poop.

darkhorse:
If you really believe that, your future happiness to sadness ratio is probably low, especially if past your prime. From a reward to risk standpoint, that makes the rest of your life a bad bet. So why not end it now?
darkhorse
The great atheists like Sartre had more pain and doubt in their lives than the great followers of God,


.....Hilarious MainFramer...

you wrecked a great post darkhorse with the God thing. Looks to me like the pain and doubt commeth from yerself
 
Superstition is for those who can't handle reality. I thought I knew what reality was until I read Darkhorse's treatise. Now I feel like worm poop.
 
Originally posted by stu

you wrecked a great post darkhorse with the God thing. Looks to me like the pain and doubt commeth from yerself
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looks to me like you have a problem with God.

I'm a fan of constructive debate- but if all you've got is lame potshots, don't waste my time.

p.s. nice that you picked a fight with me for your first post. Who else on this board uses multiple aliases and loves nitpicky fights for no reason i wonder.
 
Originally posted by Newatthis
Superstition is for those who can't handle reality. I thought I knew what reality was until I read Darkhorse's treatise. Now I feel like worm poop.
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I believe the question was more in the spirit of why do intelligent and otherwise rational people have superstitions. The idiots we can write off, the otherwise clearsighted ones we cannot.

Superstitions are kind of like baby talk imho. They are basically cute/silly nonsense, but sometimes they represent initial efforts at grasping/ understanding something bigger. Not always but sometimes. Just like when a baby makes a gurgly noise he might be just burping or might be trying to say a word.

My goal wasn't to make anyone feel befuddled or insulted, just to get them to think.

Pretending there is only lower reality is for people who can't handle higher reality.
 
There is truth to both darkhorse and Newatthis's comments.. It all depends on who believes what...Some really believe and some just use that as an effort to try and change what is real (ie. outcome of a trade) . Its all in ur head my friend all in your head...........I believe we wont be worm poop ...and i do face reality everyday ( just in case you think I dont)...This market , home bills, family issues etc.etc.etc.
 
I started this thread yesterday. I had my own thoughts about it, but was curious what I would read in the responses.
I am surprised I haven't seen one particular word used...a word I expected to see (unless maybe I missed it...) That word is BLAME. It seems like the most superstitious guys I work with, or at least the ones that make it public, seem to BLAME their loses, bad luck, whatever on external factors.
Kind of sad to me. A particular trader walks by, and these guys freak out that he is "kinahurah", "moosh", "jinx", whatever.
Sort of freaks me out that these "jinx" guys get ostracized just for breathing. Usually they are the newer smaller traders that need their confidence BOOSTED, not torn down.
Trading is such a mental game. Confidence is so important. Seems so unfair that a new trader gets labeled by big traders as "cursed"......everyone starts somewhere.
So to me, it is just a lame way to lay BLAME on others. Even when they lay blame on inanimate objects, it becomes someone elses fault that the object was made visable, present, or whatever.
 
interesting perspective, hadn't really considered the blame angle.

it might just be my life is hard / embrace the pain mentality, but i would think getting ragged on by peers is good for a trader, like endurance training for a boxer. if a blowhard can make a newbie cry by calling him names, surely the market can do worse.

i also take it as a sense of validation when someone i don't respect throws insults or criticism at me. with some people you are better off having them against you, because having them with you is a sign that you are sucking up or screwing up or doing something otherwise wrong.
 
darkhorse:
looks to me like you have a problem with God.

Superstitions are kind of like baby talk imho. They are basically cute/silly nonsense, but sometimes they represent initial efforts at grasping/ understanding something bigger. Not always but sometimes. Just like when a baby makes a gurgly noise he might be just burping or might be trying to say a word.

ooof.....

Well I feel the response darkhorse made to my first post to this board was an excessive and extremely paranoid outburst.
.....and it had no jokey bits.
My point was that remarks which are generally intelligent and articulate, are often spoilt by superstition and likewise, what may be good trading practice can have its rationale destroyed by superstitiousness.
Mentioning God in the way darhorse has, is his superstitious side in my opinion and it's irrelevant to understanding trading, as is any other kind of superstition.

First I think you should check your own gurgling before you question other's gurgles
 
Originally posted by darkhorse
interesting perspective, hadn't really considered the blame angle.

it might just be my life is hard / embrace the pain mentality, but i would think getting ragged on by peers is good for a trader, like endurance training for a boxer. if a blowhard can make a newbie cry by calling him names, surely the market can do worse.

i also take it as a sense of validation when someone i don't respect throws insults or criticism at me. with some people you are better off having them against you, because having them with you is a sign that you are sucking up or screwing up or doing something otherwise wrong.
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I agree if this is among guys that know each other....hell, if it weren't for ball busting, what would we talk about among ourselves most of the day? I am talking about cases where a new guy comes in, is labeled as a jinx by guys that don't know a thing about him (or her). I think it is unfair to them. Just my opinion. Why make them uncomfortable? Why not blame themselves for their screwups?
 
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