Thursday, June 11, 2009

Life is a duck race

A few weeks ago, we watched a duck race in the Wye Valley. The ducks were emptied out of a big bag off the bridge at the same time, but at the finish a mile lower down, the winner was 20 minutes ahead of the second. Others had formed little groups and convoys, with stragglers and outliers.

Seems like a metaphor to me. The winner certainly didn't paddle any harder or smarter than the others. How much of a part does luck play in our lives?

5 comments:

  1. AntiCitizenOne11 June 2009 at 11:47

    So we should punish the "lucky"*?


    Just because you can't say why the duck was faster doesn't mean it cheated!

    ReplyDelete
  2. James Higham11 June 2009 at 12:22

    The ducks were emptied out of a big bag...

    Eh? Wot, alive?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sackerson11 June 2009 at 14:09

    ACO: I didn't like the smug look on the winner's beak.

    James: No species I recognised, but it could be a life-form that doesn't register on our phasers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Paddington11 June 2009 at 18:15

    Read the comment I made a few days ago about 'kismet'.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sackerson11 June 2009 at 20:56

    I had that in mind, too, Padders.

    ReplyDelete

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