Faith, Hope, and Monkeys

We leave a lot to chance, hoping that things will somehow work out for the best. And, often as not, the things we worry about most do not come to pass --- and we are, instead, laid low by something we never saw coming.

Investors, for instance, saw much of their wealth evaporate in the great Wall Street Meltdown of 2008. In the meantime, casinos and lotteries keep doing a booming business, as some some come to see random chance as a good substitute for courage, foresight, and planning for the future. In this view, bad luck is seen as evidence that self-denial is for suckers, and that the future will somehow take care of itself.

On the other hand, random chance does have its limitations as a philosophy of life, and we see evidence that planning usually helps keep us afloat. After all, the advent of the Internet has disproved the hypothesis that an infinite number of monkeys, typing at random, could reproduce the works of William Shakespeare. So, perhaps applying some foresight and intelligence has a place in the Universe, after all.

JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a veteran public prosecutor in Detroit, Michigan, specializes in the appellate practice of criminal law and writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.