Two senses of the word “unusual” (ungewöhnlich; cf. “Wozu Dichter?,” Holzwege, 290): That for which there is a low degree of probability (small chance). That for which there was never any chance (zero probability). “I am,” for example. That for which there was--and is still not--any “chance.”
(There is hope, said Kafka, but not for us. There is hope for those we will be if, and when, we are–for which eventuality there is still, as yet, no chance. I.e., no probability. τύχη, “rainbow chance”--sunshine's olive branch.)
One is the law of probability. The other is the lawlessness of probability. Outlaw probability. I.e., hope.
The unusual: that for which there was never any chance--and for which there is still none. We, myself. “There is hope, but not for us.”
“I am--probably” says outlaw probability, probingly. Outlaw probability is like the full coat of fur without the panther–but not quite without its teeth. The panther hope.
“If the sun and moon did doubt
They’d immediately go out.”
(Blake)
Goddess, give us hope. No. Give us hope with teeth.
Even if a slim chance were given us, we would spurn it. A slim chance is as phony as a fat one in the philosopher’s Never-Never land, “all possible worlds.” Only the words “not a chance” spark hope in us. Over the mist-shrouded gloom of the “impossible world” arcs the glow of the rainbow–the rainbow of surprise–and nowhere else.
ReplyDeleteOurs is not one of many “possible worlds.” We live in the one, unique, singular–but still impossible–world. A world still not possible–yet.
“What is most worthy of thought (das Denkwürdigste)? This: that we are still not thinking.”
(Martin Heidegger, Was Heißt Denken)
(Martin Heidegger: a prodigious scholar, and the most original and fearless thinker of his century.)
Outlaw probability:
ReplyDeletePascal's Wager?
No. Outlaw probability does not dissolve in a probability calculus, infinite or otherwise. Hope is palpable. It has teeth. One can feel its jaws on the back of one's neck.