Fantasy game: Record Powerball jackpot causes the imagination to run wild

What would make a person take hard-earned cash and plunk it down for a lottery ticket, knowing full well that the odds of winning are infinitesimal?

We aren't quite sure, but plenty of people have been doing just that this week as the jackpot in the Powerball lottery game has climbed to more than a billion dollars.

What are the odds against a person winning? They have a better chance of being struck by lightning. Or eaten by a polar bear. Or even getting struck by lightning WHILE they are being eaten by a polar bear.

But that hasn't dissuaded millions from buying tickets.

What is there inside us that makes us think we will be the lucky one to win? It's the imagination hard at work, painting visions of what we could do with that billion dollars. The imagination never sleeps, and we can project in our minds a thousand ways we'd spend that money.

So go ahead and buy a ticket. Part of the draw this week is the excitement of being part of the biggest jackpot drawing of all time.

Who knows? You might be the winner. Just don't count on it too much.

Published in Editorials on January 13, 2016 11:38 AM