Lotteries and the Law of Attraction

Lottery players select their numbers using a wide variety of methods. Some methods are based on logic and mathematical formulas and algorithms. Others are based on new age or occult 'sciences.' Some methods can border on wacky but the fact remains that if there were really a sure fire way to pick winning lottery numbers the world would be filled with lottery millionaires. One of the stranger methods touted as a sure fire way to win the lottery is the so called 'law of attraction.'

The law of attraction has been around for about a century and a half. It first appeared in the US in 1879. The law of attraction says that thoughts can influence events and chance. Throughout the years various hucksters have convinced many otherwise logical people that the law of attraction is real. Insomniacs who are prone to watching late night TV have probably seen infomercial huckster Kevin Trudeau hawking his own take on the law of attraction called 'your wish is you command.' Is the law of attraction real? Scientists say no but many new agers believe that you can achieve great wealth by wishing it. The 2006 film called 'The Secret' prompted renewed interest in the law of attraction.

A recent blog post claims that lottery players can win those big jackpots by sheer belief and that winning the lottery is not a matter of luck but of will and belief. The author claims that by eliminating doubts and negative thoughts lottery players can improve their chances of winning a large jackpot. Once again, if that were so we would have thousands, if not millions, of big lottery winners. Television host Larry King has discussed the law of attraction on his show and remains critical. King stated, "If the Universe manifests abundance at a mere thought, why is there so much poverty, starvation, and death?" 'Evidence' supporting the law of attraction is anecdotal at best and belief in the law of attraction seems to be confined to the gullible and the hucksters that take advantage of them.

Lotteries are games of pure chance and no amount of belief will change the outcome of a drawing. It has been shown time and time again that most winners of mega jackpot lotteries such as Powerball, Mega Millions, EuroMillions and other lotteries have used the 'quick pick' option where the random number generator at the lottery terminal selects the numbers. Since lotteries are games of chance everyone has pretty much an equal chance of winning and no amount of belief will change that fact.