Superstition or Quantum theory?

[fuzzyoctopus]

So this was brought on by several things, one of which was the 'Roleplaying Superstitions' thread in under the RPG section.  But this isn't about roleplaying, and I can see it quickly spiraling into something non-related to Magic, so I put it here.  The other thing that brought this on was opening Magic packs at the prerelease today.

Ok.  So one night I was at Game Den to pick up J.T. and some kids were buying D&D mini packs just before he closed.  One of them didn't get a rare he wanted and started telling his friend (who had picked out the pack for him) that it was his fault, and that he should have had J.T. pick which pack he bought because J.T. always picked him really good rares.

This lead to them discussing how having someone else pick your packs, (of D&D or Magic, whatever) could seriously affect what cards/minis you got.  I kind of laughed, but I also thought... well what if it's like quantum theory, and the cards in any given pack aren't determined until someone opens the package and looks at them.  So any varient in how that happens could change what cards are in a pack, including who picks the pack, who opens it (and therefore observes it), and where and when you open it.

So, is it superstition or quantum theory?

[JP Dogberry]

Well that''s why you always shake those Kinder eggs before you buy them, isn't it?

But yeah, it makes a big difference sometimes, except I always just let whoever is at the shop grab any pack from behind the counter,

The easy solution is to just buy a whole display box.

[GorgonlaVacaTremendo]

It only makes a difference if they pick a different pack than you would have, which they usually do.  Saying the cards change when someone picks the pack is like saying depending on who eats it first a pie will either be blueberry or pumpkin.  And I agree with Jam, just buy the whole display box and you don't have to worry about it.

[fuzzyoctopus]

I'm not saying I believe it's actually true.  I'm saying that it's a funny/superstitious thing that people do, and yet amusingly it relates well to something that is regarded as hard science.

/me hands Gorgon a copy of the book 'Alice in Quantumland', and advises him to brush up on his quantum theory.

[GorgonlaVacaTremendo]

Hehehe.  I know you don't necissarily believe it, I just think it is a really stupid theory.

[Maxwell]

do you mean the whole "changing the outcome merely by observing it"? anywho, I seriously believe in the theory, every action takes energy and there is only a certain amount of energy so redirecting energy in any way shape or form can cause major changes, like that whole a butterfly flaps it's wings and there's a hurricane on the other side of the world thing.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

that's not really how the theory works, though TFO. Again, go read up on quantum theory. It's nto that the outcome is CHANGED, it's that the outcome is UNDETERMINED before observation. In essence, the direction of the spin of the quantum particles is not just unknown, it hasn't happened. Until you observe it.