Daily Ramble 31 - LET THERE BE DICE!

April 20, 2020

LET THERE BE DICE!

Back to the subject of the new religion I am designing. (Shortened somewhat due to another round of vacuuming - but long enough to make my first point - the "sacredness" of Chance in life).

Previously, in Ramble 28, I claimed, "that the new system I am designing is based on fundamental knowledge already understood by most, if not all, of humanity and, additionally confirmed by the most advanced scientific conclusions."

What is this factor which the whole world knows but doesn't KNOW? What is it that we experience every single day of our lives without recognizing it as a potential source of fundamental life guidance? What is it that scientists are finding at the frontiers of scientific research in all fields? 

It is the element of chance. Call it randomness, unpredictability, fortune or, most understandably, plain LUCK. It is the omnipresent factor affecting everything in the universe.Yes, my fellow Homo sapiens, at the bottom of everything there is no benevolent, malevolent or detached god and no scientifically determined, single, explanatory formula. It is dice all the way down (or out, or above, or behind if you prefer those directions.) And the deeper we go, the dicier it gets.

dic·ey
adjective informal
adjective: dicey; comparative adjective: dicier; superlative adjective: diciest
unpredictable and potentially dangerous.

On the personal level all you have to do is examine everything you do, everything that happens to you. Pick some of them and ask whether they were completely free from the operation of chance. I say it's impossible. I will give examples at a later date, if they are necessary. Meanwhile Lem's piece in Ramble 8 gives an entertaining illustration of the operation of chance in life.

Also, think about the prevalence of gambling in the world, from children's games to adult casinos and ponder how that is an acknowledgement by humanity of the existence of chance and the unknowable. Commercial gambling alone engages at least a quarter of the world's population. https://www.casino.org/gambling-statistics/ And that does not begin to count the chancy acts of gambling and fortuitous events that fill ordinary life. In short, I venture to say that almost everyone recognizes the thing called "luck."

Moreover, "luck" is being confirmed on the frontiers of science. I will go into this in more detail in the future. For the moment, let it suffice to mention, among others, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle in Physics, Godel's theories regarded the unprovability of fundamental mathematical premises, the work on uncomputability of Turing and Chaitin and the unpredictability of evolution on the molecular level.Even Albert Einstein, (1879-1955) one of the greatest "anti-dice men," admitted in one of his wisest moments, “As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it.” Yes, we are collecting more inside our brain, but the points at which our acts generate unknowable consequences are also increasing. This happens at the borders where our knowledge meets the unknown. Of that unknown, I claim that the greatest amount is UNKNOWABLE. (more about the unknowable in the future - now it is enough to accept the importance of chance.)

I'll stop here for the moment... with this line of thought: If one was to use "luck" as a major component of a new religion, as I have, here are the qualities which give it credibility, both as to its powerful existence and later, its functionality. It has verifiability, universality, potency and mystery. It begins to sound like a classic god or better. The only thing missing is that it certainly does not care for, or show preference for anything. Nevertheless, its existence can be easily confirmed in a "religious" ceremony by a practice I will call "sublimated gambling." That will be, at the very least, as spiritually validating as such traditional practices as prayer, reading from sacred texts or ingesting ceremonial foods (solids or liquids). It will be a direct, personal connection with a godlike force - with this distinction - it is real. [And yet, never fully understood - that too is needed.]

Footnote: I am calling the new religion LUCKISM®. Later on I will explain why I have registered it as a trademark.
Below I copy the first note I have found in my files relating to the development of LUCKISM®.

From Feb. 12, 2013:
1.Chance and its interaction with order is the fundamental explanation of all that exists and all that happens.
1a. we can never gain knowledge so deep that we go below that interaction or into the operation of chance or, in general,  completely beyond ignorance.
2. Within the zone of what we know we try to act logically and reasonably. Within that zone we can often control what exists and what happens.
3. The best consolation for bad events is that they were due to the operation of chance or chance in conjunction with negligence.

Why is it needed? To balance existing comprehensive systems such as Science (in its misunderstood sense as absolute certainty) Capitalism, Communism, Fascism (keeping them from becoming totalitarian) and to supplement and surpass them where they are deficient.

END