Contingent Convergence and Why Every Moment Matters

Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation).  In the first week of May 2026, I shared an excerpt titled ‘Control Theory and its Underpinning’, which is from the book titled – ‘Human Compatible – AI and the Problem of Control’ by Stuart Russell. Russell suggests that we can rebuild AI on a new foundation, according to which machines are designed to be inherently uncertain about the human preferences they are required to satisfy. It also points to this fact – ‘If we use, to achieve our purpose, a mechanical agency with whose operation we cannot interfere effectively…we had better be quite sure that the purpose put into the machine is the purpose which we really desire’. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Contingent Convergence and Why Every Moment Matters’, which is from the book titled – ‘Fluke’ – Chance, Chaos and Why Everything We Do Matters by Brian Klaas. In his book Brian points that Contrary to our instinctive beliefs, cause and effect are never simple and easy to understand: any specific outcome is dependent not only on what appear to be the major events leading up to it, but also on an array of seemingly insignificant, arbitrary, easily overlooked factors, “flukes”—some under our control, but countless others not. Contingent Convergence and Why Every Moment Matters We’re often blind to the possible jolts until they happen. We follow routines, the world ticks on day by day, and little changes don’t seem to matter. The morning news comes on at seven like clockwork. The commute takes between twenty and twenty-five minutes. From our perspective, the creeps of convergence appear supreme. But then, ever so often, our lives-and our societies-drastically change from the jerks of contingent events. Sometimes, these shifts are the culmination of lots of little changes. They build up over time, until they reach a tipping point, and everything collapses. Other times, seemingly independent individual trajectories become causally interlinked. Imagine a fly buzzing around for hours, exploring empty space, until suddenly it collides with the eye of a motorcyclist, who swerves, crashes and dies. The trajectory of that fly mattered enormously to the life of the motorcyclist, but he was oblivious of the importance of that fly to the trajectory of his life-until it was too late. In that way, we, are often oblivious of how small, contingent changes change our lives and shift our societies. Some are random accidents, such as mutations in DNA. Others are deliberate, but minor, decisions we make. They’re happening constantly. We tell ourselves that we’re in control of our lives. The truth is that everything is constantly in flux, including ourselves. We live in a world defined by what we might call contingent convergence, which is broadly how change happens. There’s order and structure, but the snooze-button effect is real. That leads to an unsettling, but also exhilarating, truth: every moment matters.    Excerpt from ‘Fluke’ – Chance, Chaos and Why Everything We Do Matters by Brian Klaas. I am sure that you will enjoy reading the book and find it thought provoking too; to buy your copy and read a review, you can click on the following link: Books Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste.