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Dice Superstition
I find it funny that dice superstition is so prevalent among board and roleplaying gamers. I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve watched someone switch dice because they didn’t like the rolls they were getting with one of them, or whatever other ritual it may be.
It’s not that it particularly matters, of course. People can do what they like, even if it is personally irritating. I just find it surprising that a group of people who are traditionally probably quite geeky would assign supernatural qualities to dice when the truth is actually far more interesting*. Probability is an lovely little area of mathematics partially because our intuitions about how probable things are are often so different to the way that it really works. From the common Gambler’s Fallacy to the dizzyingly counter-intuitive Monty Hall Problem (seriously, look it up if you don’t know), you can hardly be blamed if you’re a little mixed up about statistical probability.
The wonderful thing is that most of the time it can all be sorted out with some fairly simple application of logic. You can gain insight into different kinds of bias and the way the mind works as part of the bargain, so there’s really nothing to lose and everything to gain by treating the world as it actually is.
*Assuming that the vast majority of dice are unbiased to within a reasonable margin of error.
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wex said:
Ive always held the superstition of people touching dice when it’s not their turn, be it taking them before the person before them says it’s not their turn or just taking them and handing them to another person before the other announces it’s done.
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wex liked this
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wheaty said:
“Bro did you weigh the die?”
oh how I hate that question
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wardrox liked this
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surplusgamer posted this
