Contingency or Coincidence?—Part 1

I am fascinated by the role of chance in the unfolding of history (as well as prehistory, before we humans came upon the scene). When we look back at events that occurred in the past, we can see that many (if not most) of them were flukes: complete surprises that no one could have foreseen. And when they occurred they dominated the course of events. Had they not happened, the present would have unfolded in an entirely different way. Had not Jack Kennedy been assassinated, for example, how differently would American history have unfolded? Had the Soviet Union not dissolved a quarter century ago, what would the world look like today?

The asteroid that crashed to Earth 65 million years ago and terminated the reign of the dinosaurs is another (prehistory) prime example. Another is the ice age of 10-20 thousand years ago that provided a pathway for Asian wanderers to inhabit the Americas. And, to bring it closer to home, what about that time when, as a teenager, I nearly trashed the family car? Had I expired in the accident, this blog (or my kids) would never have been.

I have tended to classify these events as being either an example of a coincidence or a contingency. They both describe similar happenings. To be more specific, a coincidence usually refers to a couple of events that occurred simultaneously, but with no apparent causal connection. A contingency usually describes a single incident that seems to have been unanticipated. In either case, it's a surprise, a chance, a random happening, a fluke, an unpredictable event.

It is a human tendency, however, to interpret most of these unforeseen events as neither coincidental nor contingent. We dislike having things happen for no apparent reason. We rebel against chance and arbitrariness. We want reasons for things. We read intent into incidents and want to believe that things happen for a purpose. We are inclined to look for patterns, or for the hand of God or some other superhuman cause. Something must have caused this significant thing to happen—it couldn't simply have been chance!

Many people wonder how they are to live their lives, if they concede that the universe is simply a chance unfolding. As Einstein once quipped, “God does not play dice.” He was referring to random events at the quantum level, but many people feel that his comment applies to a much wider range of events.

Having a scientific bent, I have fun speculating about events throughout history; looking at them as if they were quite random and unpredictable. When I let go the inclination to see a particular happening as caused by some powerful agent, I can ponder the many alternative scenarios that could have transpired instead. It helps me to grasp and appreciate just how fickle this world is.

More on contingencies and coincidences next time...

Clouds

As Joni Mitchell sings, "I really don't know clouds at all." Every now and then clouds stop me in my tracks and demand my attention. Even if I ca't really understand them, I sure can feel in awe of them. Click to enlarge.

Prodigal Planets

Astronomers have made many exciting discoveries in recent years. For example, we now know—thanks to NASA's Kepler space telescope—that our Milky Way galaxy hosts hundreds of billions of planets; a fact that was mere speculation just a couple of decades ago. We also know that far beyond Pluto, our own little solar system contains hundreds of thousands of proto-planets that orbit the sun. (In fact, Pluto itself was recently downgraded to a “dwarf planet,” losing its role in our solar system's eight-member planetary family.)

Many other recent discoveries are being added to the list. For example, the Juno spacecraft now orbiting Jupiter is giving us a far greater understanding of that giant planet. The Cassini mission, now in its 12^th year flying around Saturn, is revealing many discoveries that are changing our understanding of how planetary systems form and what conditions might lead to life in the universe. Black holes have been discovered in far-off galaxies. Gravity waves have been measured. The list goes on. It's an exciting time in the cosmological world.

A new discovery that I will focus on here is the recent finding of free planets that wander alone in our galaxy—unattached to any star; not a part of any solar system. Until recently, the reality of these prodigal planets was, like planets around other stars, mere speculation. But now a few have been observed. It's very difficult to spot these dark wanderers through interstellar space. They cruise through a black void, nearly invisible. Recent advances in telescope technology are allowing us to locate them.

So now we've spotted several of these solitary worlds—enough to give astronomers the confidence that these free-floating planets are quite common. In fact, there are probably hundreds of billions of them wandering alone through the Milky Way.

The mystery: how did they get out there? Aren't planets formed only around stars? In fact, these lonely planets were created in a similar manner to the planets in our own solar system: through a gradual accumulation of bits of rock and dust and gas surrounding a newly-formed star. But then something like a gigantic slingshot action occurred, as one of them gravitationally encountered a huge planet in its solar system, flinging the smaller planet out into space—destined to become a lonely body free of its originating solar system; forlornly meandering through the ages.

Are these prodigal planets destined to be forever lonely and relegated to being just a cold pile of rocks? Could they ever possibly host life? As improbable as it seems, they theoretically could harbor life. Some scientists speculate that, despite having no star to provide warmth, conditions just may be that warm-seeking life could have come into existence in such a forbidden environment. The scenario is completely conjectural, but radioactive decay deep within such a planet could provide the required warmth. Or a thick covering of ice could hold in the necessary heat.

It's all guesswork, but the point is that, before the discovery of these prodigal planets, we had no idea that they even existed. Now we now they do. The fascinating thing is that they conceivably could harbor life. What's more, they are far more accessible to spacecraft from Earth than planets around distant stars, since they float alone, and some of them might be closer than planets still accompanying their star. We would just need to locate a couple of them and send spacecraft out there to investigate.

Who knows what we might find next in outer space? Just a few years ago we had no confirmation that billions of planets are out there in our galaxy. We had no idea that moons of Saturn or Jupiter just might offer conditions conducive to life. Cosmology is advancing at a breathtaking pace. Stay tuned.

Ground Beetle

I found this guy dead. It is a ground beetle, one of the most common and abundant beetles in the eastern US. They are very welcome around here, as they prey upon Japanese beetles and cut worms--both nemeses of the garden. They hide during the day and climb trees at night, seeking caterpillars. This specimen might even be what is called a "bombardier beetle," because of their habit of ejecting from their anus a "glandular secretion that literally explodes when released, producing a popping sound. The secretion is foul-smelling and irritating, and serves as a means of protection." I think my wife would say that I am trying to imitate the ground beetle on a regular basis... although I don't seem to do it for protection. Click to enlarge.

Lao-Tzu's Treasures—Part 2

So, returning to my suggested list of alternative virtues that I offered earlier, it seems to me that most of them seem to be covered by Lao-Tzu's three treasures. For example, I asked about honesty. Well, that's one of the synonyms for simplicity. How about kindness? Compassion's got it covered. Moderation? Simplicity expresses it. Generosity? Both simplicity and compassion cover it. And so on.

So one might conclude that Lao-Tzu's three treasures of simplicity, patience, and compassion do provide a very good list of virtues that one may practice. When I look at my own behavior in light of these three treasures, I realize how they've long served as beacons for me, and I believe them to be excellent virtues to acquire or practice. My first reaction, when looking in the mirror, is to examine myself to see which one I fall most short on, and thus need the most work on. Patience is the one that usually calls for my extra effort. (Ask my wife.)

I also think that these three treasures can be a good bench mark upon which to evaluate society, for how rich or poor it is. When I consider the behavior of people, I have no doubt that a very generous proportion of them do exhibit these qualities. A great many people live simply—in the sense of being honest, sincere, humble, etc. Many people are patient—in the sense of being tolerant, restrained, diligent, etc. And a lot of people practice compassion—in the sense of being kind, considerate, lenient, etc. Maybe even most people often exhibit these virtues. (I often think that humanity has survived as well as it has, by dint of many of its members acting virtuously.)

Be that as it may, these three treasures do not get promoted very well at all by society's political leaders, popular figureheads, and the media. What is broadcast in our culture and modeled for us is, in fact, often quite the opposite:

Simplicity? Instead, we are bombarded by messages that promote unrestrained greed, arrogance and pride, insincerity, muddled thinking. These immoral behaviors contribute directly to injustice and poverty.

Patience? Instead, we are encouraged to be intolerant, to be aggressive and pushy. We are told we don't have to wait—we demand fast food, convenience stores, fast internet. Don't wait to earn what you want to buy; get it on credit and become swamped by debt.

Compassion? Hardly. We're encouraged not to care about the stranger, to be judgmental, to discount the humanity of some peoples, to shut out others and not care. Instead of reaching out to refugees and the poor, our politicians urge us to build walls—so barriers get erected, rather than charity practiced.

The reality of this lack of virtue in the public arena argues that society, rather than possessing Lao-Tzu's moral treasures, is rather poor. But it's not the case that most people in society are not virtuous. In their ordinary lives people do help each other and work towards building a healthy society. It's too bad that the public domain is so flooded with messages by the media and public figures to the contrary. It's too bad that society does not model a life of Lao-Tzu's three treasures for its members. But we do have an abundance ancient wisdom in the form of teachings like those of Lao-Tzu—as well as from Jesus, the Buddha, Muhammad, and others—to help us chart our individual moral course through a minefield of misdeeds.

Lao-Tzu's Treasures—Part 1

I was given a Zen calendar last winter by a friend. Each day is a tear-off sheet that offers a quote from a wise teacher—many of them from the Zen Buddhist tradition, but many of them also are sayings from a wide variety of teachers of other traditions. The offering from a July sheet was a quote attributed to Lao-Tzu: “I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, and compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.”

Lao-Tzu has for many years been an inspiration for me. He was not a Zen Buddhist, but preceded Zen wisdom teachers by a few centuries. He was a Chinese Taoist sage. He gave us an abundant set of pithy messages in the classic book Tao Te Ching. His enigmatic and succinct verses have given me much food for thought over the years, as I chew on a passage, and often find that his concise message, initially enigmatic, eventually speaks volumes to me. I think that was precisely Lao-Tzu's intent.

I will take it on faith that the above quote is an accurate one. (I'm a bit skeptical, because Lao-Tzu never claimed to teach, as I recall. Similar to Socrates, he simply offered his ideas to people who could then mull them over and use them to teach themselves.) Assuming that it's a valid quotation, what did he mean by listing these particular three teachings: simplicity, patience, and compassion? I am aware that when we read English translations of an ancient master's writings from an other culture, many of those English words do not really capture the essence of the original word. But let me assume that these English translations from Chinese—simplicity, patience, and compassion—are accurate translations.

What do these three words describe? I think they express virtues. My dictionary describes virtues as “behavior showing high moral standards; a quality considered morally good or desirable in a person.” OK, so simplicity, patience, and compassion appear to be pretty good examples of virtues. But surely there are many more kinds of virtues that a person may exhibit, than just these three. How about, for example, honesty, kindness, courage, moderation, generosity, and dependability, to name just a few?

Did Lao-Tzu contend that his three treasures covered all the moral bases? He did call them the three “greatest treasures,” so maybe they are just his three greatest hits—if you strive to exhibit them, then maybe you've accomplished 90% of what it means to be a good person?

Whenever I ponder questions like these, I like to turn to a good dictionary for clarification. So here's what my Oxford American Dictionary tells me about Lao-Tzu's three treasures.

• Simplicity: the quality or condition of being easy to understand or to do; the quality of being plain or natural. Some synonyms: lucidity, clarity, unpretentious, restrained, honest, sincere, humble.
• Patience: the capacity to accept or tolerate delay and suffering without getting upset or angry; staying cool. Some synonyms: calmness, composure, equanimity, restraint, tolerance, perseverance, diligence.
• Compassion: the sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings of others (accompanied by the urge to help them). Some synonyms: gentleness, mercy, understanding, concern, kindness, charity, benevolence.

After that bit if dictionary research, it seems to me that Lao-Tzu's three treasures sure cover a lot of moral ground—and I would bet that even if the three English words aren't exact translations for the three Chinese words he used, surely some of those synonyms must capture his meaning.

More of Lao-Tzu's treasures next time...

Tattered Butterfly Wings

I found this tired butterfly clinging to a concrete block wall. Its right wing is in pretty good shape, but its left wing is badly tattered, as often happens late in the season. This critter is about to end its life. I hope it had a good summer. Click to enlarge.