I have a friend who considers himself to be quite knowledgeable about science and its practical implications. My friend is not named Jack although I could call him that and I am sure Jack himself will have no objections but will rather relish the chance to see his name in print. (Note from Jack: All publicity is good publicity!) So the other day my friend sends me a note to tell me that everything that occurs in the universe happens at random and for every happening there is either a higher or lower probability of occurrence.
As he points out, the devil of it is that even things of low probability sometimes happen and some things of extremely high probability never do. So how do actually know?
For example, he notes that the chances of his being born to his parents were extremely low as his father was shipped off to war immediately after the wedding and was promptly killed by the enemy so the chances looked slim. As luck and random chance would have it his mother was nevertheless pregnant and he arrived into the world completely uncertain as to what would transpire.
This is chancy enough but lately, with the news that scientists seemed again to have created neutrinos that travel slightly faster than the speed of light, he has again begun to feel quite fragile.
After all the probability of finding a neutrino that traveled that fast was next to zero just a little while ago. Yet it seems to have been found. Besides the implication that we have to rethink even what Einstein came up with, there is also the nagging little fact that something so improbable has actually occurred.
My friend once wrote to me a while ago that the fact that his identity was born into his body was completely by random chance. There was something irksome about the statement and I wrote back to him that our selves are not interchangeable. His identity is his and if it were born into a different body, it would be a different identity. I noted that his fingers wouldn’t by chance suddenly appear on my hand. And if they did they would be my fingers.
But now that he has gotten me thinking along these lines, I am also starting to feel concerned. Since low probability events can occur, isn’t it possible (not very probable, just possible) that his fingers might indeed someday appear on my hand? Would I or anyone else notice?
I have taken to checking in the mirror every morning to make sure my face is still mine and that my head is still on my shoulders. Now I know the probability is quite low that anyone else’s reflection would greet me but can I totally exclude that possibility?
I have this sudden fear of walking down the street and suddenly being aware of having different body parts and this might happen just because…
By that I mean that the universe can often seem perverse and it can unfold as if to mess you up on purpose. If something is not very probable, that is precisely the thing that will occur. On purpose.
So if you see me walking down the street avoiding cracks you’ll know I am trying to avoid giving the universe any excuse for perversity.
My mother used to spit three times to ward off evil but I think it was just a scientific device to prevent perverse low probability events from happening because if you don’t take precautionary measures…well we all know Murphy’s Law.
If you ever feel someone else’s head suddenly appearing on your shoulders, just make sure to turn around three times and spit in the four basic directions. I do this and I haven’t changed heads, fingers or selves in years.
