The Law of Truly Large Numbers
Oct 3 2026
If The Law of Truly Large Numbers is true
then anything is possible
if you count high enough.
But mom, all my friends are doing it
a teenager whines,
and why not cheat on my taxes
doesn’t everyone?
Enough scofflaws, it seems
and nothing’s impossible.
Of course, most of us aren’t statisticians.
When unlikely things happen
we’re alone in the world,
feel a spotlight
following us
like an unblinking eye.
The hard geometry of reality softens
our firm foundation sags,
and we begin to imagine
some hidden power.
Sure, if you’re good with numbers
you can calculate the odds
a thing might happen
— but happen to me?!
This is no mere coincidence, I’ll flatly insist.
And wasn’t it Freud who said
there are no accidents?
Ideally, laws should be precise.
But “truly” large??
This isn’t a law, it’s guesswork.
Like doing your taxes,
when massaging the numbers
or shifting a decimal
one spot to the left
can tempt the best of us.
Still, precise or not, it’s reassuring.
Because if the Law of Truly Large Numbers
really is true
it opens up the universe,
all its unseen galaxies
quadrillions of suns
and undiscovered earths;
an infinity
of possibility
and no false hope.
Actually, quadrillion underestimates the number of stars in the universe by app. 9 orders of magnitude! I originally had written trillions, liked the sound of quadrillions better (whatever quadrillion is!), then thought it might be high . . .and checked. A truly large number indeed!
Of course, Freud is mostly full of shit. Sometimes a cigar really is just a cigar! Kudos to him, though, for pioneering the idea of the subconscious. Before him, no one really viewed human behaviour through a psychological lens, as we routinely do now.
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