Friday, May 18, 2007

"I'm Feeling Lucky"

Why is this the catch-phrase-of-the-age? What brain at the inception of Google-ese decided that this phrase meant "I'd like to let the "brains" of Google attempt to think for me"?

Every time I get on the Google homepage, I have two button options below the search bar: Google Search, or I'm Feeling Lucky. I also use Picasa2, which is a free Google program, for picture storing/editing/etc. When I view a picture in Picasa2 and look at my "Basic Fixes" for photo editing, I have "Crop" and "Redeye" and the like, and one of the 6 instant fix options, is "I'm Feeling Lucky."

What does it mean to be lucky, to feel lucky, to experience luck? I looked it up on Wikipedia, and found a smattering of thoughts on that. Lack of control, fallacy, an essence, a placebo - all things in the Wikipedia article. My Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary has, as the first definition of luck; "a force that brings good fortune or adversity."

If the word "luck" doesn't necessarily mean "good luck," but could just as easily mean "bad luck," then do I want to hit the "feeling lucky" buttons? Not so much.

If, when I click the "feeling lucky" button, I'm simply inviting a force that might just as well bring adversity than good fortune, I might re-think it.

Granted, photo editing and internet searching are hardly significant in the sense of what adversity I might find. Sometimes I'm "feeling lucky" as I attempt to edit a photo, and it only distorts the colors & contrast, thus inspiring me to hit "undo I'm Feeling Lucky" and edit it myself. Not what I would consider "adverse." Not helpful, perhaps, but not adverse.

It does make me think, though, about word assumptions & implications. If someone says, "wish me luck!" I doubt he or she means it as such. Rather, "wish me good luck" might be more apt.

But I guess "I'm Feeling Good Lucky" doesn't have quite as nice a ring to it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

good thoughts

Tyler Connoley said...

It seems to me that while luck can be good or bad, "lucky" must always be a good thing, because it's the opposite of "unlucky," which is always bad.