Originally posted by: isaacmacdonald
overrated constructs.
Randomness has a crucial role in the way things happen. Extrapolating the "future" based simply on the "past" is a great way to act irrationally in the present.
See also:
Sirens of Titan
Fooled by Randomness
You can't base the future ONLY on what happened in the past, but ignoring the lessons of the past is as big a folly. There is no such thing as learning without the past, nor is there anything to base your present decisions on at all. Taking the past into account is a much better way to determine and create the future than throwing dice.