Brain Food #477
The wrong trouser of time
Thoughts of the day
I recently came across a concept called The Nova Effect. Though little known, and perhaps with dubious origins, considering its concept may be worthwhile.
The Nova Effect claims that a single fortunate or unfortunate event is defined as such by our own perception of it at that specific moment in time, and our own ignorance at what would have happened down the line. Regretting a choice we made, or did not make, or something that happened or did not happen, is pointless, because every choice and event unlocks a range of different choices and events, sending us down a complex variety of unpredictable paths.
It is important and comforting to remember that when our life reaches another fork in the road, though in retrospect the alternative may have seemed ideal, not all of these paths will have led to fortunate endings. But, more importantly, it is also impossible to know if and how these paths might intertwine, and meet again, offering another choice. One can only keep going, and find out.
“Life could be horrible in the wrong trouser of time.”
— Terry Pratchett
A path through a forest, by Joseph Augustus Knip
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