“[C]ontingency is a thing unto itself, not the titration of determinism by randomness.”
Source: Wonderful Life (1989), p. 51
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Stephen Jay Gould274
American evolutionary biologist 1941–2002Related quotes
“Christ, people. Learn C, instead of just stringing random characters together until it compiles”
Linus Torvalds (1969) Finnish-American software engineer and hacker
with warnings <br class="br"> Torvalds, Linus, 2015-09-03, <nowiki>Linus Torvalds on the LKM mailing list</nowiki>, 2015-09-30 https://lkml.org/lkml/2015/9/3/428, <br class="br">2010s, 2015
Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464) German philosopher, theologian, jurist, and astronomer
Nicholas of Cusa and Jasper Hopkins (Translator). On Equality. 1459.
Orson Scott Card (1951) American science fiction novelist
Source: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Alvin Journeyman (1995), Chapter 3.
Erik Naggum (1965–2009) Norwegian computer programmer
Re: Allegro CL foreign function interface http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/msg/2ec281a4f469bb35 (Usenet article). <br class="br">Usenet articles
Pierre-Paul Grassé (1895–1985) French zoologist
Grassé, Pierre Paul (1977); Evolution of living organisms: evidence for a new theory of transformation. Academic Press, p. 279
Evolution of living organisms: evidence for a new theory of transformation (1977)
Context: Exceptional, unforeseeable, or even inexplicable phenomena would hence be fortuitous. these very vague adjectives too often have a merely circumstancial meaning. A given phenomenon, today considered random, may tomorrow be considered determined because its causes will have been unraveled by thorough and specific study.
Biologists, whose task is not to seek moral causes or intentions, must first of all make sure that so-called random facts really are random facts; they must constantly keep in mind Poincare's (1912b, p. 65) famous phrase: "Chance is only the measure of our ignorance."
“This is the central illusion in life: that randomness is a risk, that it is a bad thing …”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb book Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
Source: Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (2012), p. 84