Nothing Is Random

Ostrich feathers.

That was a really random way to start a post, wasn't it? Well, it certainly appears that way, but it actually isn't. I was looking at feather dusters earlier, which classically used ostrich feathers, so when I decided that a random word or phrase would be good to start this post, it was at the front of my mind, so I picked it.

When people talk about things being random, they generally mean that it was unpredictable. I guarantee that nobody could have guessed that I would say ostrich feathers. They had nothing to do with any context that was going on. So it certainly feels unpredictable.

But in a certain sense, nothing is random. With sufficient knowledge, anything can be predicted. If you had known about me looking at feather dusters and knowing that I wanted to start this post with a random phrase, you could pretty strongly predict that I would say "ostrich feathers".

So-called randomness is really just a result of ignorance. Because you did not have the necessary information, you made assumptions on an incomplete picture, and so you did not expect what would happen next.

As an author, we have to decide how much information we give to our audiences. The more they have, the better they can guess what happens next, but doing so takes away your ability to surprise them with twists and turns. It is a delicate line, giving them enough to be intrigued but not bored, and surprised but not confused.

Nothing is random; it's only unexpected. Which would you rather give to your audience: the whole, predictable picture, or the partial, "random" picture?