what scientific proof or even theory justifies one person getting hit by lightning and living, only to get hit again by lightning and live? i have heard of some that have been hit by lightning over 3 times!
since it is so rare to get hit by lightning even one time in your life (and then to live), how is it that some get hit more than once?
2007-07-10 13:53:39 · 2 answers · asked by Louiegirl_Chicago 5 in Health ➔ Other - Health
I've been struck by lightning six times. I used to be suicidal and I would wrap myself in aluminum foil and go outside during thunderstorms all the time. After the sixth time I just gave up and decided it wasn't worth it. I chalk it up to just luck, bad luck or good luck, it's your call. Statistically lightning is no more or less likely to hit a place that has been hit before than any other, though the probability, a purely hypothetical and mathematical one, is lower.
It's like if I shuffle a deck of cards and pull the top one and it is the ace of spades. I place the card back in the deck and reshuffle. The odds are the same, 1 in 52 chance, it will be the same card. But the normal distribution probability curve used in mathematics has that card somehow less likely to come up again than any other card.
If you have two dice and roll a 7 when you combine the totals. The odds of rolling another 7 is the same odds as it was on the first throw. But the probability is much lower. I haven't been drinking but I do take anti-psychotic medication, if that is relevant in any way. Cheers!
Odds are just the raw percent chance of all the possible outcomes evenly. Probability is the LIKELIHOOD of one of those possible outcomes whether it is desirable or undesirable.
2007-07-10 19:36:46 · answer #1 · answered by Professor Armitage 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When I was about 16 we were in a sailboat race when a surprise storm came in. Rain, wind, big waves, hurt feelings and lots and lots of lightning. It sucked..
We were having to hang on to the stainless steal rigging in order to keep the boat balanced so it wouldn't capsize.
Guess what. Every time lightning struck the lake we got a little Zap!
Hard choices. Lose the boat or risk electrocution.
I once, on the news, saw a soccer field get hit during a game. Both teams got stunned and hit the ground. After a few minutes they all got up and finished the game.
Anyway, the point is that of the 5 or so zaps that we got that day none were fatal because they weren't even close to being direct hits. But most lightning strikes aren't. The people who die are usually because not only was it a direct hit It was a more powerful strike.
It's all about luck.
Although, I could be wrong. I have been drinkin'.
;)
2007-07-10 16:09:17 · answer #2 · answered by katz149 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋