Into this Universe, and Why not knowing,
Nor Whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing:
And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,
I know not Whither, willy-nilly blowing.
Omar Khayyam, translated by Edward FitzGerald
As Stephen Jay Gould writes in The Steak of Streaks, our error lies not in the perception of pattern but in automatically imbuing pattern with meaning, especially with meaning that can bring us comfort. Here‘s Richard Feynman on the same subject. More often than not, things don’t happen for a reason. There’s stochasticity everywhere. In this darkness, is it surprising that we treasure and defend the small islands filled with the warm light of meaning and purpose that we have painstakingly lit and maintained, whatever the cost may be?
Nehaveigur 