Tuesday, February 22, 2005

The Statistical, the Probable and the Event

According to Gilles Deleuze there is nothing new, no difference or “event” without repetition. This has the ultimate meaning that life is statistical or probabilistic in its very nature and not as science or common sense portrays: the statistical as deficient knowledge of the underlying determinism – the causes/variables which are to numerous to describe or mathematically simulate.

Everything repeats itself (universe, sun, individuals, etc…) and yet the same is nowhere to be seen, how is this possible? For surely the true meaning of repetition is the repetition of the same – determinism,”nothing new under the sun” etc…

To understand the true meaning of living in a “probabilistic universe” (Ilya Prigogine) is to understand the secret of “the old one” – i.e. Einstein’s “does god play dice?” Not an easy task. For all our categories of thought and practice are riveted to the walls of metric space and the multiple determinism of cause and effect - Leibniz’ “nothing without a reason” syndrome. The macro level is determined by the micro level…

.... And yet from the statistical fishing net escape infinite singularities: why does the universe’s fishing net not catch all the fish that come by? …the answer is the true meaning of the probable and the statistical…

Just think and meditate on the meaning of the “statistical” or “probabilistic” let those two words repeat themselves in the mind until they resonate and change their usual/habitual connotations… like avant-garde “silence music" the mind/time starts filling in sound repetitions with musical variations/differences… out of the boring repetitions a whole new universe of harmony and qualities spontaneously emerges… as if out of nothing…