Did you know that the origin of the word "Random" comes from the Middle English word for "Impetuous Headlong Rush"?

So if the adjective random is supposed to be associated with a headrush.. What does that mean? Does it mean that everything that happens to us, is like experiencing the feeling of a rush, or exhiliration? The Oxford Dictionary current definition of the word is "made, done, happening, or chosen without method or conscious decision". I had a conversation today with a fellow student of mine about how random actions/situations/thoughts can influence serious change in our lives. Was he right? Could the decisions I make today really influence the outcomes of tomorrow, or is it the random events that occur in my day that truly influence the outcomes of my life, and in general. I decided to do a bit more investigation into this idea. I thought of some examples about how something random, can affect people's lives.

Scenario 1: You're walking down the street and you trip over an object that wasn't meant to be there, like a piece of lead pipe that just happened to fall from the scaffolding above just as you were checking out the person walking past you. You trip over this piece of pipe and a stranger helps you up. That stranger introduces themselves and there's an instant connection, you then remain friends/lovers/etc for the rest of your life. Question: are any of these actions truly random? The lead pipe fell because of a careless worker, you tripped because you are a day dreamer, the person walking towards you had a horoscope that day that said "you will meet the person of your dreams".

Ok. A little sappy, but isn't that how randomness is portrayed in movies?

Scenario 2: It's late at night, you're a bus driver working your usual route. You stop at a normal stop, all of a sudden 3 people jump onto your bus running for cover from a gun fight. You drive this route, stop at that stop every day. But tonight, you get shot in the face by a stray bullet meant for someone else. Was this random, was this a coincidence? Some might say, you agreed to work on a dangerous route. The gun fight was a product of a failure by our education, judicial and policing systems (By the way, this actually happened on the weekend here in the city).

After that. I decided to do a little bit more investigation into this word that has me so puzzled. I decided to Google the word "random", because what better a source for some answers then the most random collection of random things, but an internet search engine, where the lines between fiction, reality, truth and lies sometimes get completely blurred. (Ok, my friends are right sometimes I can come across as dramatic). Back on track. The Google search came up with 279,000,000 hits for the word random. The selections that came up were equally eclectic. From random number generations, to Random acts of Reality, to Random House publishing, and I could go on. I decide I'm going to look at 2 random sites, on 2 random pages. Decided by the first 2 numbers that popped into my head (random? Or was it meant to be?). In looking at theses sites, the one a blog that depicts random events occurring to a EMT describing his work, again depicting that these random events in some way were tied together.

That was the conclusion I came to.. That all these "random" events are tied together by personal connections, linked by personal feelings, spread by people's storytelling. Meaning that nothing can truly happen without cause because there will always be a consequence for a "random" thing. And so, "random" is redundant because of its human connections.

So back to what my friend said today about random events changing lives.. Maybe they do change lives, but for a reason. And who are we to criticize that occurrence, because no matter what the conclusion, at least we learn something from it. What more can the cognitive mind ask for?

What is it about anatomy that's just so complicated?

"Tension, it's all around us. Can you feel it? It's present in our streets, our homes, our countries, the world stage. It exists in many forms, but the main point is that it can do so much harm. Why do we find it so difficult to exist among each other without an underlying sense of tension. Whether it is fueled by race, creed, orientation, opinion, etc. tension between those who are different has been a source of conflict for as long as we lived as communal peoples. An individual who lives with their own set of values will eventually clash with another person if they meet along a deserted road. What is it in our human nature that makes us so prone to hate, and feelings of discrimination against others?"

I just finished watching Crash, and those were some thoughts I had after watching it, and speaking with some friends about the state of the world today. I talk and I think about the complexity of the human mind quite a bit. It still amazes me that I am surprised by the atrocities committed by people everyday. We hear about tragedy on the news, or witness it ourselves. Mass media and technology really have brought the world to our doorsteps, and there is no excuse for our ignorance anymore. I for one, can not sit by idly and watch someone being beat upon by someone else. And yet that's what we do when we watch the news and hear about tragic things that happen to people in faraway places. Because if we aren't there to see it.. it can't really be that bad right?

Watching a movie that speaks about racial tension and how that fuels hatred, I became very frustrated with the state of affairs of globalization. Isn't the technology that we use everyday supposed to bring us together? So if geographically, we are becoming a lot closer, why are we drifting further apart socially? Why is it that as we become more interdependent economically and in resources, the underlying social tensions are becoming more and more open and vicious? I'm so full of questions, but I did come to some conclusions after this movie. No matter how subtle it is, racism and discrimination exists in all of us. Its how we decide to act on these impulses that determines who we are as people. At school I take International Development Studies and it requires us to partake in an overseas work placement for a year in a developing country. It is assumed that we enter into this program with an open mind and try to get rid of any biases we have. This year, we are going to be going through Anti-Racism training that will teach us a different perspective on Development and show us that even though we are not conscious of it, we all have certain racist tendencies. I've been shocked this year at the number of people I'm meeting that make discriminatory and judgmental comments without the blink of an eye. Especially my fellow students who are going to work in developing countries soon and have derogatory comments about people living in those countries. It irks me.. So.. where does that leave us? It leaves us with the responsibility to try and speak, read, listen and see with an open mind and heart and to hold no bias against those who are different from us. Not much to ask right?