Probability and uncertainty pervade in this world…not the chance and randomness of the gambling and gaming worlds, but the unfettered randomness of life. In gaming there are fixed/limited odds of an occurrence…in life, not so much. In the world of the geneticist, patterns prevail, but certainties of structure, function and character, don’t. For the theoretical quantum physicist, uncertainty dominates all things. They speak in terms of possibilities and probabilities. Literally nothing is fixed or truly solid, not the air you breathe, your very body, nor the ground on which you stand. Fixity, certainty, is illusory, only apparent as a function of scale, of perspective, of knowledge. As humans, with our limited lifespans, we crave it, behave as if it were so and, with regards to our future, seek to predict it or even determine it. But there is so much beyond our control. Beyond our knowledge. Continue reading →