{"id":281,"date":"2013-10-30T12:51:44","date_gmt":"2013-10-30T12:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.12uh.com\/improbulos\/?p=281"},"modified":"2013-10-30T12:51:44","modified_gmt":"2013-10-30T12:51:44","slug":"thoughts-on-it-is-what-it-is-and-the-statistical-theory-of-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.12uh.com\/improbulos\/thoughts-on-it-is-what-it-is-and-the-statistical-theory-of-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on “it is what it is” and the Statistical Theory of Everything"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is in response to feedback concerning my Amazon Kindle book,\u00a0The<\/em> Statistical Theory of Everything<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Note that the concept was originally coined by Isaac Asimov and grew from my research and work on the 12 Unthinkable Horrors of Human Existence<\/i>. While some feel that viewing the world as a bell curve of events is obvious, most do not view it that way. I take a very deterministic, reductionist perspective and prefer to not feel that the universe, god, or “quantum forces” are concerned about me, interact with me, or a have a purpose for me. Believing this does not make me sad, but gives me great joy and purpose. Rather than accepting life as “it is what it is” I always strive to accept those events or people I cannot change and actively try to improve what I can. Yes, it is a call to action\u2014as you call it. On a personal level, I just hate the phrase \u201cit is what it is\u201d as I don\u2019t think it adds any additional information to the conversation. It doesn\u2019t explain whether one has the ability to change what \u201cit\u201d is.<\/p>\n

Concerning whether the human race could move every human being, or even significant populations to the right<\/em> on the STE line for a given parameter, such as poverty, health, or equality, I believe we have made great strides over the last 10,000 years. Even with approximately a billion people living in poverty, lacking basic sanitation, electricity, running water and healthcare, there are now hundreds of millions of Chinese and Indian middle-class where none existed before. Also, the move could be virtually imperceptible or on a much smaller scale, for example, your local Boy\u2019s Club versus the entire country of Somalia. Worldwide, the human race has made improvement in the rights of children, women, minorities, the handicapped and homosexuals.<\/p>\n

Just fifty years ago John Wayne slaughtered American Indians with joy and impunity. Today that would be unthinkable. We are moving to the right of the STE line concerning social justice.<\/p>\n

In my Freethought and Writing meetup groups, one of the participants often mentions that none of us will ever achieve anything noteworthy (a Pulitzer, Nobel prize, or NY Times bestseller) however, per the STE, I believe someone must achieve these goals\u2014and it could be me. Many authors were flat broke (J. K. Rowling, who is now a billionaire<\/i>) before they achieve success. Nelson Mandela was in jail for 27 years (!) and become a Nobel peace prize winner (1993) and<\/i> President of South Africa. Yes, these unique, top ten out of seven billion events are what the STE predicts.<\/p>\n

And publishing 20 Amazon Kindle books in one year, while working another job, is the type of positive activity that could make that improbable event happen. Believing \u201cit ain\u2019t going to happen\u201d is not what keeps me writing\u2014a belief that someone must be to the far right of the STE line, does. Establishing a sense of purpose to those (non-believers) most often associated with hedonistic, selfish and purposeless lives, is part of my mission and message.<\/p>\n

This is not The Secret<\/i>, or wishful thinking, or a belief that the \u201cuniverse loves me and wants me to be successful.\u201d I have to earn it and there is no supernatural \u201cpuppet master\u201d determining my fate.<\/p>\n

Two books that corroborate my thesis and also provide further insight are: The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined,<\/i> by Steven Pinker [Amazon link<\/a>]<\/p>\n