Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Of Chance and Revivial...
Chance:
a: something that happens unpredictably without discernible human intention or observable cause
b: the assumed impersonal purposeless determiner of unaccountable happenings
c: the fortuitous or incalculable element in existence
Revive:
a: to restore to consciousness or life
b: to restore from a depressed, inactive, or unused state : bring back
c: to renew in the mind or memory
(Merriam-Webster Online)
While I am sure that there has been reams and reams written (those poor trees that were felled to do so...) about chance, I am nonetheless surprised at just how much it affects us all. Why this came back to the top my mind is the recent revival of at least a couple of my friends' blogs, in addition to mine. Seems like, once one started, we picked up. Now, where exactly does chance come in?
These are friends of mine from college, more specifically, from my hostel. This group of people thrown together in the same hostel - same wing - by complete random chance develops into a great band of friends. So much so that, it is slightly scary (to me, at least) to be imagining how life would have been if one of us (again, the paranoia strikes, what if it had been me?!) had been assigned to another hostel, or been granted admission in another college... Chance.... aahhh!
Now, there would be many who would say "Yes, even given that these people are thrown together by chance, they still chose to be one another's friends, didn't they?" Well, could it not have been pure chance (again) that threw such similar-minded people in such close proximity? I guess we could go around in circles on that one...
Then there would be those who call it Destiny. I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. But then, having seen at least one strong example of a purely random exchange leading to a life-long bond of love, I am open to fatalistic arguments now... anyone game?
Whatever, chance, choice or destiny, I am grateful. For a few things in life... actually, as I am slowly beginning to realize, for a lot of things in life... most of them results of apparent chance...
Isn't this post a bit early for Thanksgiving?
PS: The blog revivals referred to are of Anurag's and Anil's. Check them out, if you are anyone other than those two. If you are one of those two, check the other's blog, dufus!
PPS: Oh yeah! Happy Halloween! :)
a: something that happens unpredictably without discernible human intention or observable cause
b: the assumed impersonal purposeless determiner of unaccountable happenings
c: the fortuitous or incalculable element in existence
Revive:
a: to restore to consciousness or life
b: to restore from a depressed, inactive, or unused state : bring back
c: to renew in the mind or memory
(Merriam-Webster Online)
While I am sure that there has been reams and reams written (those poor trees that were felled to do so...) about chance, I am nonetheless surprised at just how much it affects us all. Why this came back to the top my mind is the recent revival of at least a couple of my friends' blogs, in addition to mine. Seems like, once one started, we picked up. Now, where exactly does chance come in?
These are friends of mine from college, more specifically, from my hostel. This group of people thrown together in the same hostel - same wing - by complete random chance develops into a great band of friends. So much so that, it is slightly scary (to me, at least) to be imagining how life would have been if one of us (again, the paranoia strikes, what if it had been me?!) had been assigned to another hostel, or been granted admission in another college... Chance.... aahhh!
Now, there would be many who would say "Yes, even given that these people are thrown together by chance, they still chose to be one another's friends, didn't they?" Well, could it not have been pure chance (again) that threw such similar-minded people in such close proximity? I guess we could go around in circles on that one...
Then there would be those who call it Destiny. I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. But then, having seen at least one strong example of a purely random exchange leading to a life-long bond of love, I am open to fatalistic arguments now... anyone game?
Whatever, chance, choice or destiny, I am grateful. For a few things in life... actually, as I am slowly beginning to realize, for a lot of things in life... most of them results of apparent chance...
Isn't this post a bit early for Thanksgiving?
PS: The blog revivals referred to are of Anurag's and Anil's. Check them out, if you are anyone other than those two. If you are one of those two, check the other's blog, dufus!
PPS: Oh yeah! Happy Halloween! :)
Comments:
refer to my earlier comment! crystal ball and tarot card reading for u my man!!!
how the hell does this even get near crystal ball and tarot reading, except for the word "destiny" mentioned? "philosophy" would have been more understandable...
at any rate, these are just random musings that have been rattling around in the huge empty space that my brain currently is... but whatever...
dude...the fact that you are getting so senti.....means that you either need to do the Ph.D. that i mention, or go for that performance that Gunj talks about. Stop being a geek all the time. tell your prof to take a chill pill or meet him a day earlier!! either way, get a life.
well, since i am workig towards a Doctor of Philosophy degree - whichever discipline it may be in - i don't think i need to do something in proper philosophy. :D
hey Sai...I saw this link at the bottom of your email this AM and since I wanted to procrastinate a little more on writing that article summary...I ended up here!
The chance vs. fate vs. who knows subject I've thought a lot about too. It's funny because I just went to the Dr. Collins talk last week and he talked about this subject a bit. He is the head of the human genome project and he came to OSU to speak about his book "The Language of God" I would really recommend it if you haven't read it yet.
In any case, he talked about a bunch of other "chance" events such as the big bang - and the fact that all our force constants - such as the strong nuclear force, gravity, etc. basically all the constants that in science we can't derive down to any other formula but the number itself...if any of the constants were changed just a little bit, life would be impossible and the big bang would have never happened - that's a lot of other "chances" to think about. For me, random chance doesn't add up- there are too many coincidences. I've come to believe that there is a purpose for everything and that it isn't all just random chance. I believe in a God that is behind that purpose, but who also gives us the ability to choose and to have free will.
Maybe that's confusing but in any case that's where I am right now...
Happy Thanksgiving! ttyl
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At October 31, 2007 5:50 pm, 
Hitchcock thought
Hitchcock thoughtrefer to my earlier comment! crystal ball and tarot card reading for u my man!!!
At October 31, 2007 8:12 pm, Sai K thought
Sai K thoughthow the hell does this even get near crystal ball and tarot reading, except for the word "destiny" mentioned? "philosophy" would have been more understandable...
at any rate, these are just random musings that have been rattling around in the huge empty space that my brain currently is... but whatever...
At November 02, 2007 10:46 pm, Hitchcock thought
Hitchcock thoughtdude...the fact that you are getting so senti.....means that you either need to do the Ph.D. that i mention, or go for that performance that Gunj talks about. Stop being a geek all the time. tell your prof to take a chill pill or meet him a day earlier!! either way, get a life.
At November 04, 2007 10:09 pm, Sai K thought
Sai K thoughtwell, since i am workig towards a Doctor of Philosophy degree - whichever discipline it may be in - i don't think i need to do something in proper philosophy. :D
At November 21, 2007 8:19 pm, 
thought
thoughthey Sai...I saw this link at the bottom of your email this AM and since I wanted to procrastinate a little more on writing that article summary...I ended up here!
The chance vs. fate vs. who knows subject I've thought a lot about too. It's funny because I just went to the Dr. Collins talk last week and he talked about this subject a bit. He is the head of the human genome project and he came to OSU to speak about his book "The Language of God" I would really recommend it if you haven't read it yet.
In any case, he talked about a bunch of other "chance" events such as the big bang - and the fact that all our force constants - such as the strong nuclear force, gravity, etc. basically all the constants that in science we can't derive down to any other formula but the number itself...if any of the constants were changed just a little bit, life would be impossible and the big bang would have never happened - that's a lot of other "chances" to think about. For me, random chance doesn't add up- there are too many coincidences. I've come to believe that there is a purpose for everything and that it isn't all just random chance. I believe in a God that is behind that purpose, but who also gives us the ability to choose and to have free will.
Maybe that's confusing but in any case that's where I am right now...
Happy Thanksgiving! ttyl
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