The Science of Black Cat Luck (1299 hits)
Category: Science & EnvironmentalRating: 0.25 on 15 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Bob Dole <robotgod80.at.hotmail.com> (View user info) at 2003-10-12 04:15:52 EDT
It's a well known belief that crossing a black cat's path brings bad luck. So I pose this question: What if; just hypothetically, a cat was crossing a 3 lane street from right to left- but was hit by a truck in the middle lane. Do cars traveling in the right lane fall under the juristiction of that cat's luck? After all, the cat is no more, and it's "path" wasent completed. On the same token, do cars in the left lane apply here too? It was in the potiental path of the cat. When is the bad luck assigned to a given path? Upon the cat's completion of said path or when the cat decided to make that trip in the first place? I pose yet another question. What if the cat made it to the middle lane, and then turned around and went back to the right side? Is the right lane double cursed? Is the left still cursed? Is bad luck brought upon the truck that hit the cat? Technically it didn't cross the path at all. Kinda makes you think. Well, ok- it desent make you think. But it will make you wonder about this the next time you see a black cat in the street.
User Reviews
Submitted by Fleet_Marshall_Badass (user info) at 2004-02-21 07:34:08 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Shut the fuck up - you got the superstition wrong, so you just wasted my time. Fuckwit.
Badass.
Submitted by jon <ttjmdp.at.lboro.ac.uk> at 2004-02-21 07:29:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
....isn't the whole superstition about a black cat crossing your PATH...roads are fine ;p
Submitted by T.chow (user info) at 2003-10-13 18:39:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
i think the superstition says it's bad luck for a black cat to cross YOUR path,
in which case the applied logic doesn't work. unless maybe the truck sends the
lifeless body of said cat accross your path...hmmm provocative...
+1
seagal rocks.
Submitted by Bob_Dole (user info) at 2003-10-12 18:22:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I understand the "intersection of paths = cross" thing, but the cat is dead. Does it still count?
And is there a statute of limitation on the path's duration? By now, since the evolution of cats with black coloration I'd imagine the better part of every major cat-bearing city in the world has it's fair share of bad luck. But I guess that would explain a lot.
And futhermore I think the cat parts should count. Someone needs to petition the council of stupid beliefs and have the concept updated.
Submitted by MAB (user info) at 2003-10-12 17:34:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
As a superstitious contrarian, I know that black cats crossing your path make for a week of staggering fortune and success. Seeing one get killed would mean you got nothing left to live for 'cause you're completely fucking screwed. I hope that answers your questions.
Submitted by jimbobjoe (user info) at 2003-10-12 16:14:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Not bad for a first post.
What about the stipulation that if you own and care for a black cat,
then it is good luck for one to cross your path?
Submitted by jwlmar10 (user info) at 2003-10-12 16:06:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
The next time a black cat crosses your path you should kill yourself.
Submitted by Acarnis (user info) at 2003-10-12 13:33:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
haha, virgil.
Submitted by virgil (user info) at 2003-10-12 12:39:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
At least I think we can all agree on the point that the cat itself wasn't particularly lucky.
Submitted by Acarnis (user info) at 2003-10-12 10:38:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Actually, no, that is not a brain teaser.
"It's a well known belief that crossing a black cat's path brings bad luck."
This means, cut and dry, that to receive bad luck the black cat's path must perpindcularly intersect yours and continue straight to make a "cross." With just that in conjunction with obsevation and logic, you can figure it out effortlessly. Yes, the right lane is cursed. No, the left lane is not cursed. As for the truck, no, it is not cursed. Even tho it did perpindicularly intersect the path, the cat's path must continue in order to make a "cross."
It says a "cat" must cross....nothing about a "cat's leg" or a "cat's arm"...a full cat. The fragments of the roadkill would not spread the path.
Submitted by heatherm (user info) at 2003-10-12 07:23:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by PizzaEagle (user info) at 2003-10-12 05:36:57 (#)
Ranking: 1
What if the cat walked into a box and then got run over by a truck? Is the cat alive or dead? Can we know without affecting the system?
Are we talking a cardboard box, here? Because if so..a cardboard box would get smashed to shit, as well. Cardboard poses no protection for a stinky little black cat.
Submitted by PizzaEagle (user info) at 2003-10-12 05:36:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
What if the cat walked into a box and then got run over by a truck? Is the cat alive or dead? Can we know without affecting the system?
Submitted by KingHFB (user info) at 2003-10-12 05:05:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
ooooh theres a way of looking at it
now im gonna fear roadkill
Submitted by Bob_Dole (user info) at 2003-10-12 04:45:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
For the sake of those that would find it amusing; the cat could be hypothetically smashed into pieces and scattered across the road upon impacting the metal bumper of a 3.5 ton truck. These pieces could, in theory, pose new bad luck paths, as there is no written stipulation that the entire cat must present at the time of making above mentioed path.
Submitted by KingHFB (user info) at 2003-10-12 04:21:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
thats like walking half-way under a ladder, turning around and going back
or just "glancing" at a broken mirror
or even "partly" opening an umbrella indoors
the possiblities are endless
i also liked the fact that the cat got pummeled in the hypothetical