Clockwork Tide

Published: Jan. 18, 2020, 5:33 p.m.

Snow - a 100 word story\n\n\n\nThe snow has been falling, dripping on my heart for days, and it is now frozen. No sound is coming out, no internal clock ticking, clicking the days of my mortal prison away. Gone are the days, chased by time rushing by, washing me away in its clockwork tide, forgotten in a prison of ice. The rain will wash my pain away, leave me clean, cold and still. I'm forever blue, in a crystalized ice cage, here I stay, unmoving, uncaring, for all my cares are gone, forgotten, as I forever sleep, with a frozen heart, buried under deep snow.\n\n\n\n-----\n\n\n\nHi there and thanks for stopping by. I\u2019m Guy, and you\u2019re listening to my surreal sketchbook of reality.\n\n\n\n-----\n\n\n\nEpisode 13, Clockwork Tide\n\n\n\nSome say that everything that happens is predetermined by cause and effect. Some say it\u2019s all just random events. This episode Is a semi-philosophical look at determinism, causation, and randomness. I\u2019m not a professional philosopher by any means and my approach can be quite absurd, illogical and not at all that serious, so - you've been warned. Do not take this podcast too seriously. If you tend to take things too seriously, this might not be the podcast for you. Seriously. I mean it. Find another podcast to listen to.\n\n\n\nYou\u2019re still here? Good. Let\u2019s talk about randomness versus determinism. First, let\u2019s look at randomness as reflected by chaos geometry which derives from chaos theory. Chaos theory studies the mathematics of randomness. While studying random numbers, it was discovered that those numbers follow the same pattern of many natural occurrences. Many of the natural things that appear random actually have a method within them and that method follows chaos geometry. If you look at the edge of a random shape, let\u2019s say - a cloud, you would see shapes that resemble the shape of the whole cloud, only smaller and not exactly the same, just resembling the whole cloud. That is true for any random thing you would look at, from the shape of a snowflake to the way the weather behaves. Things that appear random seem to hold the seed of themselves. That is the essence of chaos geometry and it suggests that nothing is truly random.\n\n\n\nNext, let\u2019s look at cause and effect. When clouds collide it causes a release of an electrical charge, that manifests itself in the form of thunder and lightning. If that electrical charge hits something, let\u2019s say a tree, it can cause the tree to catch on fire. If the tree is close to other trees they can also catch fire and you can get a forest fire. This is called a chain of events. In this chain of events, colliding clouds caused a forest fire. The question is, where do chains of events start and when do they end? You can take the events further and see what happens after the fire is over or go back and see how the clouds were formed in the first place. Events don\u2019t start with one event or finish with another, they are a continuous progression of one event leading to another with lots of side events branching from them. Determinism says that events can only go one way. There is really only one option for the events to unfold. For example, the only thing that can possibly happen now is that I take a break. I\u2019ll be right back.\n\n\n\n-----\n\n\n\nThe Chair - a 100 word story\n\n\n\n\u201cAddress the chair,\u201d said the head table. \u201cI beg to differ\u201d uttered the chest of drawers but the cupboard shushed her. The respectable window curtain walked in. An appreciative silence filled the room. A sofa moaned. \u201cI think that sofa ate too much last night\u201d whispered a bed to a cabinet. The cabinet just shrugged and said \u201cthat sofa would be very hungry when there is no food left. There is a limited amount of unsuspecting people around you know.\u201d The chair cleared his throat and said: \u201cWe hold these truths to be self-evident: That all furniture are created equal...\u201d\n\n\n\n-----\n\n\n\nWelcome back. Determinism tells us that everything has a cause and effect that can only lead one way. You can\u2019t really prevent that forest fire.