Revelations of a simple mind.

I was striking a match tonight and something very odd happened. Nothing. I had left the box out in the rain, and the moisture must have impeded it from lighting. Now, I was very frustrated, as I was in desperate need of a cigarette, and the damn match wouldn't catch! But as I was staring at it, something shocking happened: it lit.

I began to ponder on this. How could this have happened? What caused the sulpher to combust a few seconds after being struck? I could not, for the life of me, understand what had happened. Perhaps there was one place on the head that was affected by the friction, but it took it a moment to pass that along to the others. I will never know why this happened.

I began to think about the relevance of what had just happened, and I had a revelation on perceptions. I knew for a fact in those few moments that my attempt to light the match had failed. I was so sure that I would have bet my life on it. I knew that this was the case, and was so sure about it.

Perhaps this is the case with so many things. Life will always throw curveballs. No matter how confident you are that something is one way, it very well may be the complete opposite. This reminded me of a quote from the Enter the Matrix video game. In the beginning, Niobe and Ghost are entering the Matrix, and Ghost begins to check his guns to make sure everything is in working order. Niobe is confused.

Niobe: Why do you do that?
Ghost: Do what?
Niobe: Check your guns.
Ghost: You never know.
Niobe: This is a program, they're loaded the same every time.
Ghost: Hume teaches us that no matter how many times you drop a stone and it falls to the floor, you never know what'll happen the next time you drop it. It might fall to the floor, but then again it might float to the ceiling. Past experience never proves the future.
Niobe: So...?
Ghost: So, you never know.

I feel that that convorsation speaks for itself.