Delusions of Control

 In a sufficiently complex system, even the slightest of errors can have dramatic consequences. In an early episode of "The Good Place", Michael comments that if even a single blade of grass was even a fraction of a degree out of place, it would disrupt the entire neighborhood. As anyone who works with machines on a regular basis will confirm, the more complicated something is, the more things there are that can go wrong with it.

Does anyone really have control over anything? As a society, we are all stuck in a massive balancing act, depending on everyone (or at least the majority) to fulfill their roles, whatever they might be. And yet, all it takes is a few people here and there failing to perform to send everything spiraling into chaos. And once chaos begins, it spreads rapidly. A careless action on its own can be bad enough, worse if it is repeated over and over, compounding on itself as it goes.

Decisions are made above us, and orders are handed down. Those with the gold make the rules. Lawmakers, all too often, are only interested in satisfying the whims of those who financed their campaigns, while the average citizen must shoulder the fallout and repercussions. The system is rigged, and alterations are not possible, as those who would make the alterations are the ones who benefit most from it staying rigged.

Everything we do is meaningless. If you do a thing, it will be undone. Perhaps by your enemies, or some idiot inheritor who mistakenly believes they know more (or at least enough). If not them, then it will be undone by time. In the poem "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelly, the mighty are told to look upon the works of Ozymandias, King of Kings, and despair. And yet, there is nothing to behold. The broken remains of a statue sit in the desert, sand stretching outward for miles in every direction.

Do you even have control over yourself? Every part of the body, every action performed, is controlled by the brain. The brain does not merely take in information, but also processes and presents it to the thinking portions. However, during the processing and presenting, skews and biases are applied. We do not base our actions and decisions on reality, but rather on our perception of reality.