There is LITERALLY no such thing as fail-safe!

Post Reply New Topic

There is literally no such thing as fail-safe! And by the same logic, literally no such thing as impossible! This may ramble a bit, but bear with me...

I was just sitting here in my bed trying to go to sleep, thinking about random stuff... you know, life, the future, the universe, and this hit me. My mind drifted to the area of physics. I recalled a lesson about the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, which shows the probability of a molecule in a given substance having a certain velocity. For solids, this distribution is extremely skewed toward lower velocities. BUT, although the probability is extremely low, it is possible for molecules in a solid object to have a high enough velocity to break its bonds and escape the object completely.

That said, there is an infinitesimally small probability, but still a probability nonetheless, that every molecule in any object could simultaneously achieve these extremely high velocities. This would, of course, result in that object spontaneously disintegrating. Objects, of course, include human bodies.

This means that no matter what I do or say, wrong or right, bad or good, there is a possibility, albeit an infinitesimally remote one, that I could suddenly cease to exist in any recognizable form in 2 seconds. Like, right now. In the middle of typing this. Haven't done it yet. OK. Cool.

I feel like for most people this prospect is terrifying, but for me, it's extremely liberating. It's extremely liberating because this lets me fully realize that I need to live in the moment. Literally the only thing I have control of is this millisecond, right now. It also lets me know that there is literally no such thing as a fail-safe method of doing anything, of achieving any goal. Even if my only goal were just to stay alive for the next 60 seconds, that could be nullified for no good reason other than simple probability.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just rambling about things I don't have a clue about. But to me, it takes some of the pressure off, knowing that the fate of my future isn't decided completely by my own actions. Some of it's decided by Maxwell and Boltzmann. Most of it's just random. Every event has a probability of occurring, and a probability of not occurring at any given moment in time. And to me, that encourages trying to create as many events as possible, to take as many risks as possible, if only for the purpose of experimentation... to see what the outcome MIGHT be...

I have no idea where this post should go. For that reason, I just kind of stuck it here. Mods if you think it should go somewhere else feel free to move it.

The electrical service hwere is live is fairly reliable
aproximately 80%, but not 100% foolproof, as nothing is,
so I have a power backup system, making it aprox 85% to
90% reliable.

Thats my weird twist on it

What subject would this be? Chemistry? Physics? Because when I took high school physics it was all about angles and equations and figuring out weights and forces and stuff like that.

That sounds kind of like it has to do with Maxwell's Demon (same Maxwell either way). I read a fascinating book that had the Demon in it as an actual sentient being.

It is a bit liberating in some ways to think that at any given time we could suddenly cease to be, but the fact that we could live for yet another 60+ years makes me plan my actions for the future just in case. Many times I'm surprised I'm still alive...

Fail Safe failed in Fallout 3 during the simulation so i agree