The odds of winning the lottery are extremely low, and many people don’t even bother to try. But for those who do, there’s often a sliver of hope that they’ll get lucky and change their lives forever. This is what Psychologist Leaf Van Boven calls the “lottery dream,” and it’s something that many people experience despite the fact that there’s almost no chance of winning the prize.

When the odds of winning are so incomprehensible, they create a conceptual vacuum that makes it easy for people to engage in magical thinking or superstition, play a hunch, or throw reason out the window completely, says George Loewenstein, professor of economics and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, people tend to overweight very small probabilities — meaning that they will treat a 1% chance of something occurring as though it’s actually a 5% chance.

Another factor is that the lottery often attracts lower-income individuals, which may contribute to financial instability and other social problems. And the sudden influx of wealth can be difficult to manage, leading to bad financial decisions and exploitation.

Lastly, there’s the issue of taxation. Depending on how the jackpot is structured, winners can choose to receive their prize in lump sum or as annual payments over time (commonly referred to as an “annuity”). While investing the payouts can help them grow their money over time, it’s important to keep in mind that most states tax lotto winnings.