Tuesday, March 4, 2008

A Confluence of Variables

I used to believe in magic, and god, and miracles. I used to think that luck was a big factor in how things happen, and how people got where they did in life.
But I have recently been able to articulate a paradigm shift in my own thinking.
Everything can be explained by cause and effect, by action and reaction. If something looks like it's influenced by luck, more often than not that "luck" can be explained by a confluence of variables, if you pick them apart and analyze them all.
For instance, today. The primaries in RI. Nice day, sunny, warm. The Dinnerman made the comment as we left the polls this morning, "So much of it is luck. If it's snowing or raining, nobody comes out to vote."
It's not luck, it's just the way it is. It's out of anyone's control, but something caused the weather to be the way it is. Not luck.

If you don't stop at stop signs, you increase the liklihood that you will be involved in a car accident.
If you show up late for work and don't try to do your job well, you will fall out of favor with your boss.
If you smoke, you increase your risk for lung cancer.

The magical moments happen in the spaces within the concrete matrix of life; they are not the matrix itself.

I wish I had learned this 20 years ago.

(Wow - too much caffeine, not enough sleep?)

On another note, I met Seth Yurdin this morning!

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