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May 30, 2024
"Our lives are themselves random: chance encounters, events and the accumulation of accidents being the defining features of our span upon this earth." --James Bridle
How Luck and Chance Shape Our Lives
Professor, podcaster, and author Bob McKinnon explores how Mark Robert Rank calls into question some prevalent cultural beliefs. A couple of them are: “the idea of rugged individualism and meritocracy” and the perception that the “world is just, that what we get in life we deserve, either good or bad.” We tend to apply “luck or chance to individuals and randomness to system wide things.” Yet, while we like to think we are in control, random factors significantly impact our lives. The book gives numerous examples from major historical events (a ten-mile difference in an asteroid’s path, and dinosaurs would still roam) to our personal lives including who our parents are, when and where we are born, our first and last names, and financial circumstances to name a few. One of his random thoughts: “The recognition of randomness ensures that we do not take the good things in life for granted, and it allows us to understand the precarious nature of good fortune.”
BE THE CHANGE
Appreciate the impact of random accidents, chance encounters, or unpredictable events both before and since your birth. Take a chance on changing someone else's life in some small way with a random act of kindness.
