Quotes from book
The Stochastic Man

Name: The Stochastic Man
Author: Robert Silverberg

Hugo and Nebula Award Finalist: This tale of an encounter between a probability expert and a psychic is “a treasure” (San Francisco Examiner). Lew Nichols can predict the future. Not see the future, just make predictions based on research and statistics. Nichols is damn good at it, though, and his accuracy makes him a valuable addition to Paul Quinn’s political campaign for New York City Mayor and possibly the White House. But, when Nichols meets eccentric millionaire Martin Carvajal, predictions suddenly seem petty and flippant. You see, Carvajal can actually see the future—not trends, not options—a signal line of events stretching out ahead. It’s a gift Nichols can learn from this “mentor,” but at what price? Will knowing the future make the present meaningless?

“It’s not a philosophy, Mr. Nichols. It’s an accommodation to the nature of reality.”

Robert Silverberg book The Stochastic Man

Source: The Stochastic Man (1975), Chapter 16 (p. 98)

“Gottfried, like any true dictator, liked to surround himself with bland obliging ciphers.”

Robert Silverberg book The Stochastic Man

Source: The Stochastic Man (1975), Chapter 7 (p. 27)

“In the absolute universe all events can be regarded as absolutely deterministic, and if we can’t perceive the greater structures, it’s because our vision is faulty. If we had a real grasp of causality down to the molecular level, we wouldn’t need to rely on mathematical approximations, on statistics and probabilities, in making predictions. If our perceptions of cause and effect were only good enough, we’d be able to attain absolute knowledge of what is to come. We would make ourselves all-seeing.”

Robert Silverberg book The Stochastic Man

Source: The Stochastic Man (1975), Chapter 3 (p. 11)

“We are born by accident into a purely random universe.”

Robert Silverberg book The Stochastic Man

Source: The Stochastic Man (1975), Chapter 1, (p. 1; opening words)