by Robert Martin

Created on: August 27, 2008

Probability and Inspiration

An open-minded individual may say that we live in a world of either pre-determined events (fatalistic view?) or, conversely, in a world of random chance.

If we were to say that we live in a world of random chance, then a mathematician may see the world as a world of probability, as evidenced by history and the events that have taken place to produce certain results.

An investor may also have this point of view and seize the opportunity to manage his investments based on those past endeavours that had or presently have a high probability of success. This probability would be determined from events in recorded history and present economic or other conditions.

An analyst may even take this to heart and reduce life to a massive collection of probabilities where some certainty can be attached to various events or changes in one's life.

However, an inspired moment that captures an idea not yet thought breaks through the limits of history and redefines the human experience. For this, the probability is not known and is undefined. Prediction based on past experiences can only serve to guide us through our evolution which is reliant upon thoughts heretofore not expressed nor recorded.

The thinker who is unlimited by human experience may provide that which is essential to our progress truly new ideas and ways of thinking. Much is to be said for those disciplines or ways of life that un-limit our conception. Our future is precariously resting with those free thinkers who are not restricted by our past and who are regarded without mockery or disdain. In the past, we have quenched new ideas if they were not immediately applicable or practical or affordable. Now we must encourage new ideas which must, at the very least, be well-considered and at best, embraced completely.

We are entering an age where the unusual (read "historically unacceptable") ideas are being uncovered and can be supported and perhaps enlarged upon, developed and exploited for the good of us all. This comes only with an open-minded society and an effective government that does not restrict but indeed perhaps supports this forward-thinking approach to education, science and industry. Perhaps we carry the burden of our history farther than we should, allowing us to be justifiably close-minded, and blind to new ideas. We exist because of our history, and we continue to live while making history, but now I feel is the time for us to open our minds to all possibilities. In this way, perhaps we will be prepared for a healthier global future.

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