Friday the 13th Luck Study |
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Paraskavedekatriaphobes have an outstanding fear or hatred of Friday the 13th, and are well aware that Friday the 13th is said to be very unlucky.
We come across many superstitious events every once in a while: breaking a mirror, allowing a cat to cross your path, opening an umbrella indoors, stepping on a crack, crossing two table knives, and walking under a ladder are all said to be unlucky, but with caution, these can be avoided. The bad thing about Friday the 13th is that it's unavoidable. You can't dodge it because you can't dodge time. Time is inevitable.
Of course, I had doubts about the validity of Friday the 13th. Is it true that there could be a day that occurs once or twice a year that carries bad luck to everybody who goes through it?
I decided the best way to determine whether Friday the 13th is unlucky is to have a scientific study.
Before making my study, I asked my calculus class what they thought about Friday the 13th. Eleven out of 15 high school seniors said that Friday the 13th does not change the amount of luck they have and has no bearing on their luck at all. Three people said it is more unlucky than a usual day, and one girl kept switching between lucky and unlucky until I convinced her that she didn't know.
Is my class wrong? Are the myths true? Are the paraskavedekatriaphobes justified? Is Friday the 13th truly unlucky?
My Investigation:
To prove whether Friday the 13th is an unlucky day, I listed all the good and bad things that happened to me in two separate lists for two different Fridays--the first of the which was on a Friday the 13th.
The assumption is that on lucky days, more good things would supposedly happen to you (like finding a penny), and on unlucky days, more bad things would happen to you (like poking an eye out). By comparing how many good things and bad things happen to me on Friday the 13th to any other Friday, I will be able to tell whether Friday the 13th is an unlucky day or not.
Then, I took those lists, and asked people to tell me just how good or how bad each of the items in the lists were. They gave numerical values to the list items because some things are more lucky than others and should be emphasized more.
The following Luck Judges have told me how good or bad each list item is:
Abby Anderson, Alex, Chris Huntley, Holly, Karen, Kathy Rhynard, Katie, Ryan M., and Stephanie Dilbeck
Thanks to all the Luck Judges!
Here are tables of the lucky or unlucky things that happened to me, along with what each person rated the item and what the average score is.
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Friday the 13th, Lucky List | |||||||||||
Nice, warm shower | 2.33 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
Weather Channel said "Mostly sunny, high 70" | 2.78 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
Invited to friend's birthday party | 2.89 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | |
Shakespeare test wasn't too hard | 2.78 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
Enjoyed taking a chemistry test | 3.11 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | |
First to finish a chemistry test | 3.38 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | ||
Got perfect score on practice sign language test | 3.89 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 | |
The crabby girl was not being rude today | 3.89 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | |
Refreshingly cool temperature in history classroom | 3.11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
Warm, happy outside lunch | 3.11 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
Peanut butter sandwich was tasty, filling | 2.22 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
Had fun guessing definition of the word "this" in calculus | 1.89 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
Movie day in creative writing class | 2.22 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | |
Ran into old school friend at Costco | 4.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | |
Ate lasagna (favorite food) for dinner | 3.56 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
Won several rounds of video games | 4.56 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | |
Friday the 13th, Unucky List | |||||||||||
Woke up an hour too early | 3.67 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | |
Woke up with sore throat, stuffy nose | 3.89 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | |
Found toothpaste on shirt before putting it on | 3.11 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
Clock in bathroom was 5 minutes behind, throwing schedule off | 2.33 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
Beagle ran into street right in front of car, almost killed it | 2.89 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | |
Girl says I horrified her with info about wisdom teeth extraction | 2.11 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
Learned about a presentation that will have to be given | 2.67 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
Sneezed during Shakespeare reading, got sniffles | 2.67 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
While filling bubbles on test form, smeared pencil onto hand | 1.67 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
Got hungry an hour before lunch time | 2.44 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
Girl kept inadvertently moving the table away | 2.56 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
Stinky kid sitting nearby in history class | 4.22 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | |
Nobody wanted to eat lunch outside | 1.78 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
While leaning back in chair, hit back into whiteboard marker tray | 3.22 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | |
Poked self in thumb with pencil | 2.78 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
MSN Messenger wasn't working | 4.22 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | |
Couldn't turn into Costco | 3.00 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
No free cheese samples in Costco | 3.00 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
Finger pinched between two heavy boxes | 3.33 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | |
Got tired playing badminton, called lazy by other players | 2.22 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
Balloon floated to the ceiling and couldn't get it down | 3.56 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | |
Couldn't finish pie because of eating too much lasagna | 3.00 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
Friday the 20th, Lucky List | |||||||||||
Woke up well-rested | 3.44 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | |
Learned useful signs in ASL | 3.00 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | |
Didn't have to wait long to pick up a form from the office | 3.11 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | |
Got a respectable score on math final | 4.22 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | |
Wind was blowing hard; wind is awesome | 2.33 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
Ate tacos for an early dinnert | 3.22 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | |
CD set was 20% off | 3.44 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |
Ate some food from McDonald's | 2.44 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | |
Friday the 20th, Unlucky List | |||||||||||
Weather Channel said "70% chance of rain, high 59" | 2.11 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | |
Chemistry teacher gave a very boring lecture | 3.44 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | |
Partner in ASL kept falling asleep | 2.44 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Ear was hot and water wouldn't cool it down | 3.22 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 4 | |
No apple juice, had to drink berry juice for lunch, tasted bad | 2.33 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |
Creative writing class corrected you when mispronounced Valium | 3.22 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
Bus was hot and stuffy, but opening window would be too cold | 3.22 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 4 | |
Wind blew the canopy off the porch swing, had to reaffix it | 3.56 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |
Nothing good to drink; tap water is not great | 2.67 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
Mom and sister wouldn't stop shopping | 2.11 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
Stubbed toe on bathtub | 3.78 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
Interesting facts:
- The most fortunate thing that happened to me out of the two Fridays, according to the votes, was that I won several rounds of video games. Hmmm, go figure.
- The most unfortunate thing was a tie between having to sit next to a stinky guy, and not being able to chat with friends online.
- Apparently, nearly killing a dog isn't as unlucky as if a balloon floats to the ceiling and you can't reach it.
- The most optimistic person (gave the highest overall score on the Lucky Lists) was my sister Stephanie.
- The most pessimistic person (gave the highest overall score on the Unlucky Lists) was my aunt Karen.
Having gotten the data, the next step was to find the overall average value for each list for each day:
Lucky List, Friday 13th: 3.0149 lucky pts.
Lucky List, Friday 20th: 3.1528 lucky pts.
Unlucky List, Friday 13th: 2.9242 unlucky pts.
Unlucky List, Friday 20th: 2.9192 unlucky pts.
From here, we just do a little mathematical tweaking:
Lucky: 3.0149 ÷ 3.1528 = 0.9563 = 95.63% Unlucky: 2.9242 ÷ 2.9192 = 1.0017 = 100.17%
And get the final results:
Friday the 13th was only 95.63% as lucky as Friday the 20th, and
Friday the 13th was 0.17% more unlucky than to Friday the 20th.
So it's true! Friday the 13th is more unlucky than any other Friday...but not by much.