Fate and Probability

Stochasticity.

It's a five syllable smarty pants word for randomness. I heard a few stories today that seemed too random to be anything but fate. Problem is, the scientists say that fate doesn't exist. It's more an issue of statistics than anything else. Let's say I win the lotto three times in a row. How would you describe that? Statisticians would probably say that someone was bound to win the lotto three times in a row. When you pull back a bit, statistically, it's not improbable. The error comes when you are too close to see the inevitability of someone winning the lotto three times in a row.

Personally, I don't like probability; it removes the magic. Take, for example, the multi-universe theory. A part of the theory states that, given enough matter, there is bound to be another universe exactly like ours. A universe where the particles are arranged in such a way that there is another Travis Avila typing this blog post at exactly the same time. And there is yet another universe with a Travis Bavila who is typing a New Yorker article at the moment. And yet another universe with someone 87% like me, and so on and so forth.

For some folks, this provokes a sense of awe and mystery. To me though, it just seems boring and devoid of purpose. But then again, Christians hate probability. Try telling a Christian that this world was bound to exist. That it was only a matter of time before particles arranged themselves in such a way that life on Earth was possible. Tell a Christian that and see what happens. I suppose it begs the question, why does stochasticity make perfect sense to some, but gives me the heebie jeebies? How about you? Where do you fall in the spectrum?

-Trav