kylie
7th November 2003, 09:38
Well, it isnt actually called that, thats just a guess by me. I was talking to someone the other day and they told me about a theory of society that they like(either they didnt tell me or i cant remember its name, does anyone know the proper name for it?), which is that while we see the world as being orderly, and that we have control over most of what happens to us, really we have no control at all, and society only stays together by a thread. This manifests itself in how so much of what we do is affected by very small things, which we have no input in.
For example, in a day a person might miss a bus which then crashes, the causes of the crash could be just one of the thousand or so drivers it passes losing concentration, being drunk, etc. Or it may be that someone who would have got up, drank alchohol and then drove, passing the bus on their route, could not find their keys. Or by a few centimeters when walking, or climbing steps etc a person may misplace their foot and slip.
It doesnt just have to be related to getting injured or being in an accident. It could be that you only meet someone due to a very slim coincidence, and in fact this is how most people you know are met - them being assigned into the same class as you, etc.
I was thinking about it, and it does seem to fit, all the important things which have happened or nearly happened to me and my friends have been due to this. Like on tuesday a friend of mine nearly got ran over, it was only due to someone pulling them back that they didnt. Or someone else i know who i wouldnt have met had their father not joined the military and been transferred when he did. And there must be a lot more of these kind of things happen than what we think, it just being that due to the nature of them, being the result of very small variables, we just arent able to accuratly imagine them. Though for getting injured etc it is easier. I could probably think of ten small changes at the end of today thet would result in this happening to me.
I just think its fairly interesting, i'm not quite sure how it would fit in with Marxism, but hopefully someone will know the proper name of this so i can read some more about it.
For example, in a day a person might miss a bus which then crashes, the causes of the crash could be just one of the thousand or so drivers it passes losing concentration, being drunk, etc. Or it may be that someone who would have got up, drank alchohol and then drove, passing the bus on their route, could not find their keys. Or by a few centimeters when walking, or climbing steps etc a person may misplace their foot and slip.
It doesnt just have to be related to getting injured or being in an accident. It could be that you only meet someone due to a very slim coincidence, and in fact this is how most people you know are met - them being assigned into the same class as you, etc.
I was thinking about it, and it does seem to fit, all the important things which have happened or nearly happened to me and my friends have been due to this. Like on tuesday a friend of mine nearly got ran over, it was only due to someone pulling them back that they didnt. Or someone else i know who i wouldnt have met had their father not joined the military and been transferred when he did. And there must be a lot more of these kind of things happen than what we think, it just being that due to the nature of them, being the result of very small variables, we just arent able to accuratly imagine them. Though for getting injured etc it is easier. I could probably think of ten small changes at the end of today thet would result in this happening to me.
I just think its fairly interesting, i'm not quite sure how it would fit in with Marxism, but hopefully someone will know the proper name of this so i can read some more about it.