Looking for something I once read

[bjortan]

Years ago I read a book which contained the following philosophical/mathematical/whatever argument:

- Everything anyone does has more than one possible consequence.
- Therefore, the probability of any one consequence of any one action is always less than 1.
- Therefore, since everything in the world is the result of an infinite chain of events, each of which have more than one possible consequence, the probability of it ending up the way it did is pretty much zero (<1 multiplied by <1 an infinite number of times).
- Consequently, everything that exists is virtually impossible. That which exists cannot, statistically speaking, exist.

For instance: for me to become the exact person I am today, my parents had to meet (probability <1) fall in love (<1), have sex (<1), complete pregnancy (<1), I would have had not to die as an infant (<1), I have to not get run over by a bus or hit by falling debris etc everyday (<1), meet certain persons and read certain books that influenced my thinking (<1), etc etc ad infinitum. All of these events are more or less improbable, and so the end result is less than a million to one shot. Yet, here I am.

Now, I have no idea where I read this. It sounds a bit Vonnegutish, and I did read a lot of Vonnegut in my teens, but in that case - which book?

I know this is probably an impossible (hehe) question to answer, but does this ring a bell with anyone?

[Tabac]

When I graduated from college in 1966, my uncle offered me a year of graduate school at his expense. Cost was not a problem, and out-of-state places were more preferable to my intersest, so I chose one school in State A over another in State B that was very tempting.

The weather in these two cities is about as different as one could imagine. The cultural climate is equally as diverse, but both cities are very interesting places to live and to visit.

I ended up leaving the grad school after only one year; I went abroad for two years, and when I returned to the States, the only place it looked like I could find a teaching job was in the city where I did my graduate work.

I have often wondered: just how would my life be different, similar, the same, now, if I had chosen the other city to start my graduate work.

By the way, the two cities involved are Seattle, WA and New Orleans, LA.