Is it better to be stupid and lucky.... a meditation on "Luck"

After a very near miss with a drill press, my hand became entangled in the chuck while it was on, nearly removing, wrecking or otherwise mangling my pointer finger, I began a meditation on the state of stupidity.


As I see it there are 4 states:

Stupid and Unlucky

Stupid and Lucky

Smart and unlucky 

Smart and Lucky

Ok,  that seems straight forward until you start to consider that luck, the state of being lucky or unlucky is not binary, it is a spectrum.  A spectrum spanning actively unlucky (like you did something horrible in a previous life and the universe has decided to take you down a notch or two) to neither lucky nor unlucky (luckless), to actively lucky.

Actively Lucky, everything always seems to go your way.

Marginally Lucky, things generally go your way.

You get my drift.....

Obviously, Stupid & Unlucky might be the least desirable state.  Wrong place wrong time, do not pass go, so unlucky you don't get to procreate.  Granted I am speaking about individuals, populations would be a little different.  But maybe Mammoths were a little wrong time wrong place as they went extinct.

When speaking to the folks in the shop, where they were very nice to me as I repeatedly kicked myself for creating the constellation of events that injured my hand, suggested that Stupid & Lucky was the best state.  I guess this encompasses the "Happy Go Lucky" or "Carefree" state of being.  However, this conflicts directly with "An unexamined life is not worth living" from Socrates.  I happen to be in agreement with Socrates.

Smart & Unlucky, so actively unlucky it seems like a horror show.  To be able to recognize that some power seems to have it in for you.  I don't mean to imply a higher power (a god), but simply that things don't seem to work out.  The smart deer that trips, the horror movie person that recognizes a imminent threat but can't get their keys out quickly enough.  I guess Smart and neither lucky nor unlucky would be the best spot here short of the ideal....

Smart & Lucky, the best.  The Super Hero combo.  Everything seems to work out and you're smart enough to recognize your luck, maybe even contemplate the roots of its nature and be thankful for it saving your ass a multitude of times.

At this time, I have no resolution or conclusion to this thought train.  Only that twice in my life now, it was probably a 50/50 deal that I could have lost a digit and didn't.  So, unlucky enough to get hurt, but lucky enough for it not to be grievous. The previous time happened to be accident with my chainsaw.  Sitting in the emergency room while the nurse stitched up my hand I couldn't help but smile.  I still had all ten fingers and though the repair operation hurt like hell, I recognized my luck.

Accidents happen all the time.  Despite our best efforts, random events intervene, tempers get the better of us and things go south fast.  The only hope is to try an stack the deck in our favor.

Addendum

Of course, as I have thought further about this, I realized I missed the other side of this.  Stupid to smart os also a spectrum and it changes ( at least for me ) throughout the day.  After lunch, I often feel especially leaden and tired.   Mornings are a bit "Meh", but once I am moving and alertness increases I feel more myself.  There is a period in the evening where I feel pretty sharp too.  What I eat, how I slept, all of it plays into the state of being I think of as consciousness and how alert and sharp varies accordingly.  Then to throw in random crap like irritation.... well all bets are off.