“Whenever a large
sample of chaotic elements are
taken in hand…an
unsuspected and most
beautiful form of
regularity proves to
have been latent all
along.”
- Francis Galton,
Victorian iconoclast
The man was standing on a platform about five feet above the
floor.
The stand projected into a room some 12 feet square (3sq
m). In his hand was a Ping-Pong ball.
As the camera panned back you could see the floor covered
with hundreds (maybe a couple of thousand) ping pong balls, sitting where cheese
belonged in ‘armed’ mousetraps.
After saying a few words, none of which I understood, the
man tossed the ball, like an arcing basketball foul shot, into the middle of
the room. As the ping pong ball landed, the place exploded with little white spheres
flying everywhere.
In a “…moment, in the twinkling of an eye…” it was over…the
floor covered with random ‘traps and balls’ everywhere. For the sake of the audience, the event was
replayed in slow motion…one ball hitting another, and another and another…and
it was AWESOME!
The apparent chaotically random chain reactions were the
point of the experiment. I am sure the fellow explained all of this in simple
and thoughtful terms, but for that little boy (me)? Wow, those ping-pong balls
flying everywhere, smashing into one another, then dropping to set off another mousetrap,
was amazing!
A connection….
This week, my local YMCA held what they call ‘Trunk or
Treat.’ It's a family event designed to provide a safe place for children to collect candy in the Halloween tradition.
I’m on the board, and thought it would be fun to
participate. It was one of those things for which I volunteered not having a
clear picture of what the event actually was…or for that matter, my particular
duties.
“Show up at 3:30 (15:30) with your car and a willing heart,”
Yvette said.
Being an obedient man, I did exactly has I had been told. As
it turned out, when I arrived, there was a designated place for the car.
“You are in the ‘Funny’ section, uh let me see. Oh yeah,
slot number 9,” the volunteer said.
“Just turn left at the sign. If you have a problem, one of
the people there will help you.”
“Open the back hatch when you get there,” she ended, moving
on to the next driver.
I found the spot, parked the car, and then, as if right on
cue, a lovely woman, her son and his friend quickly, and with a bit of
ingenuity, turned the back of my car into, what appeared to be, the living
quarters of ‘Sponge Bob Square Pants’ (SBSP).
Some of you may know this cartoon character…while others –
such as myself – may not. I can assure you, however, the children knew…but I am
getting a bit ahead of the story.
A few minutes later, a cheery young female volunteer
appeared with bags of candy, which I was to put in my open trunk, er…I mean SBSP’s
living room.
For the next three hours, more than three thousand children
came by…some in very creative costumes – others in none…each picking one ‘empty
calorie’ laden treat of their choice. One piece per kid doesn’t seem like much,
but there were thirty or so other cars with open trunks doing the same thing. They
could come around a second time as long as they just picked one – I didn’t see
many second timers. With few, and I mean
very few exceptions, the kids followed the rules.
It was wonderful to watch these youngsters take their candy.
There were a few too small to see into the back of my car, needing a lift from
their parents. Others looked like they had taken a too much growth hormone.
Some of them walked right up grabbing a piece of candy quickly, heading for the
next trunk, while others poked around a bit until they found something familiar
– calculus unknown.
A number of mothers carrying babies looked frazzled. I
suggested, with a conspiratorial glance, “…maybe the little one might like a
piece of chocolate.” More than a few end-of-the-day moms ‘got it,’ smiled and
accepted the offer ‘for the baby.’ A small thing to be sure, but I got more
than a couple of shoulder pats and a fair number of ‘thanks for the
recognition’ smiles.
The volume and variety of children was amazing…
Amazing they were
even there…
While these kids were making…some quick – some slow…decisions
about what piece of sugary delight should be captured for later consumption,
they did not appreciate – nor in all probability did their parents – that they were
already winners.
The fact they were even breathing suggested the random cosmic
lottery into which their ancestors were thrust, had been successful. In all the wars… famines…diseases…fatal
accidents…murders…poisonings…all of it over the millennia our species has
existed, their (our) branch of the family tree had survived, and there they
were, picking the spoils of their survival victory from the trunk of my car!
What does it mean?
In order to understand anything about that ping-pong
ball/mousetrap experiment, the film had to be slowed way down, because it
happened so fast.
On the other hand, the lives of these children are just like
that experiment. They will bounce off one another, and others yet unknown moving
them in random directions.
The problem here is that the apparent chaotic chain reaction
happens so slowly, in real time, that it is nearly impossible to get any sense
of the trajectory of their lives.
Perhaps, for those of us who have survived, at least to the
reading of this piece, we can take a moment to reflect on the random
interactions bringing us to where we are.
The day-to-day decisions we make are part of the ‘slow
motion’ that lead us to the next collision with the cosmos, leading to a
momentary pause before we interact again.
Unlike those ping-pong balls, however, we have choice…we can
choose to interact (say yes) to a situation or not (say no). While our response
(yes or no) may have an unknown outcome, the odds of survival are greatly
increased through the choices we make…relationships…health…sleep…exercise, etc.
Like those kids at the trunk of the car, it may be easier to
‘grab and run’ to the next trunk, but taking a little time in the choices
(yes/no) can make a difference in the outcome of this chaotic/random world in
which we live.
For in spite of the apparent chaos of it all, an order
emerges which to ‘this little boy’ (me) is AWESOME!
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