Game of Chance, Monday
"So I feel like we haven't done enough discussion lately," Atton said.
He had not at all decided on this topic purely because it was cold, or because he'd gotten rained on by candy this morning and he was grumpy about it. Nope.
"Chance is, at the end of the day, about uncertainty," he said. "How certain is it that one thing happens over another? It's rarely a hundred percent chance anything will happen. Anyone on the mainland would tell you that it could never possibly rain candy out of the sky, but look--"
He waved towards the window. "...There we go. Now, I can't speak for all species, but humans don't handle uncertainty well. We want our chances to be 100% in our corner - or at least 100% on us. Even people blaming themselves for stuff they can't control, that's about trying to minimize uncertainty: it's gotta be something you did. Or didn't do. The odds were in your hands, not at the whims of fate."
He shrugged. "That's not actually how it works," he said. "So today I just want to open up a broad discussion. How do you deal with uncertainty? Not knowing if the chances are in your favor? Knowing they're not, but wanting to push it anyway? Do you deal well with not knowing, or does it drive you nuts at night? It's stuff like that that should inform when you take a chance, and how."
With that, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a marzipan apple, and bit into it.
He had not at all decided on this topic purely because it was cold, or because he'd gotten rained on by candy this morning and he was grumpy about it. Nope.
"Chance is, at the end of the day, about uncertainty," he said. "How certain is it that one thing happens over another? It's rarely a hundred percent chance anything will happen. Anyone on the mainland would tell you that it could never possibly rain candy out of the sky, but look--"
He waved towards the window. "...There we go. Now, I can't speak for all species, but humans don't handle uncertainty well. We want our chances to be 100% in our corner - or at least 100% on us. Even people blaming themselves for stuff they can't control, that's about trying to minimize uncertainty: it's gotta be something you did. Or didn't do. The odds were in your hands, not at the whims of fate."
He shrugged. "That's not actually how it works," he said. "So today I just want to open up a broad discussion. How do you deal with uncertainty? Not knowing if the chances are in your favor? Knowing they're not, but wanting to push it anyway? Do you deal well with not knowing, or does it drive you nuts at night? It's stuff like that that should inform when you take a chance, and how."
With that, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a marzipan apple, and bit into it.