Rants of a developer

There’s this thing with absolute certainty (a fact, reality, predictability) and coincidence (something purely accidental). They seem opposites: only one can exist.I think it’s different. There is a scale of coincidentiality and the ‘physical’ size of the observed phenonemon determines the factor of coincidence vs. certainty.

On one end there is absolute chaos: the world of electrons, protons and neutrons that are ruled by chance and where quantum physics can merely predict events statistically. Nothing is certain, everything is accidental.

On our way to the other end of the scale, there is our world, where certain things seem to be coincidential and others are certain. The people you meet on the street will be mostly coincidental, unless there is another force at work. Like for instance when two people live in the same area and both go shopping at the same time, the chance that they meet in the suppermarket will be high. It’s a less coinciential meeting. Also when things are seen in perspective: people near you appear to move chaotic, compared to a large group of people when viewed from above, where patterns become predictable. When hierarchically large factors are at work, an event on a smaller scale becomes predictable. On the scale of countries, politcal and economical entities, events become highly predictable. Especially when one knows what the driving factors are, the laws of the matter at hand. Unfortunately on this scale science hardly plays a role…

Further outwards on the scale of coincidentiality are larger structures, like life on earth, the species that exist and have existed in the past and the ‘local’ solar system. With life it’s usually: big eats small. Or as often is the case, and especially with people: more powerful dominates less powerful. Chances of success are simply higher that way. In relation to different species this is also the case: one specific species might be the end of another, as I think was the case with Neanderthals and ‘modern’ humans (humans were smarter, which increased the chance of survival over Neanderthals). The dinosaurs ruled the earth for over 160 million years. Obviously that was not a coincidence. Size does matter!

Then something ‘interesting’ happened. An asteroid crashed into earth, whiping out the dinosaurs (and many other species). This is a larger scale event and as such more predictable. And indeed, as soon as asteroids are bumped out of their position and set on a course to the inner or outer solar system, their path becomes very predictable and for the most part scientifically explainable due to our knowledge of gravity. We are currently capable of predicting possible future impacts, events that might happen hundreds or thousands of years in the future.

Our moon is unusually large with respect to the size of the earth, in comparison to the other moons and their parent planet in our solar system. The moon has a strong effect on earth, due to its gravity pull.

Earth is positioned ‘just right’ from the Sun: too close and it would be too hot, too far and it would be too cold.

Between Mars and Jupiter there is an asteroid belt. (The astroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs came from here.) The gravity of those two planets holds the astroid belt in its place. Coincidental strays are usually puled towards the outer solar system by Jupiter, which is heavier than Mars. If the situation was reversed, or Jupiter would not have been there at all, then chances of asteroids traveling towards the Sun and possibly colliding with Earth would be much higher. The fact that we can observe these (and more) things makes them less coincidential. In fact, I dare say it is almost certain that these things have contributed in the birth and endurance of life on Earth.

When we observe whole galaxies or galaxy clusters, events become very predictable, as things on this level are mostly dominated by gravity. Although it must be said that there may be some uncertainties at play here, but those are ‘simply’ a lack in our current understanding of the universe, which makes events less predictable.

And then we have reached the other end on the scale of coincidentiality, where everything is an absolute certainty, a fact of reality, the other end of chaos: the complete universe! I cannot conclude any differently than that the universe as a whole was meant to be.

But then again, according to the big bang the universe started out really small…

The Grand Scale of the Universe

Whatever may be the case, I think humanity lacks respect for the grander things in life – and life itself. There are yet still so many things unknown and instead of rapidly destroying ourself, we should study life and the universe. After all, it’s the origin of us and everything we known and as a species we stand no chance living in ignorance.

• Leave a comment...