At the discussion of the documentary film “Trouble the Water” this evening some people were of the opinion that the chance event of Hurricane Katrina tearing through New Orleans’ Ninth Ward caused, or forced, some of the people living in that neighborhood to make changes in their lives that they wouldn’t have dreamt of doing otherwise. The fact that their lives were totally upended brought them to thinking about how they had led their lives so far and how they wanted to lead them from that point onward. The husband of Kim, the 24 year old woman with the hand held camcorder, had been selling drugs before the hurricane and was ready to go to war with his neighbor, but at the end of the film was gainfully employed rebuilding housing and had learned some trade skills there and had gotten the endorsement of his employer who praised him for “wanting to work”, and had made peace with the neighbor.
This concept of random chance bringing great change to people’s lives reminded me of a scene in the BBC TV miniseries “Brideshead Revisited” from 1982. The pivotal scene where Charles Ryder and Sebastian Flyte meet is fleshed out more in the miniseries than the movie the Cinema Club members saw earlier this year. In the miniseries, Charles has invited a number of his friends to his rooms to discuss worldly topics and they happen to be discussing Newton’s Laws of Motion, and considering whether if the orbits of the planets can be precisely calculated based on simple physical laws and are therefore deterministic, that the whole universe itself, including all humans’ lives, might also be deterministic, that is, there would be no such thing as Free Will. The mathematician or philosopher of the bunch has just said “Shouldn’t we say, then, that Chance is the very basic principle of our life in this rational universe?” when Sebastian, having been out drinking with his friends, appears at the open ground floor window of Charles’ living room and has a queasy look on his face and glances at Charles and then leans in slightly through the window and pukes onto Charles’ carpet. His friend apologizes and the next day multiple bouquets of flowers appear unbidden in Charles’ rooms and their friendship is launched, a friendship will alters each of their lives and those around them in profound and irreversible ways.
Tags: Brideshead Revisited, Chance, Determinism, Randomness, Trouble the Water
November 20, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Random chance certainly may provide an interruption to a cycle, allowing new possibilities.
It’s important for us to take advantage of opportunities to make change, and to help others make the change they desire.
Much better to encourage chance, though, if one can afford the dice.