The following cartoon accompanied the print version of The Impossibility of Maximizing Good Consequences by Lawrence Crocker (Philosophy Now). In the article, the writer posits that various decisions can have vastly different long term consequences.
This is the backbone for chaos theory, or the butterfly effect (i.e. a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world can theoretically cause a hurricane in another).
Although the actions that can result in the very best consequences (i.e. maximizing consequences) ought to be favoured, the probability of actually “getting this right” is pretty darn small.
We are all here as a result of a long and impossibly arbitrary series of decisions by our ancestors. I’m just not sure what to do with that thought.
I’m not too sure what do about that either, except appreciate this particular configuration of randomness. 🙂