Probability and Possibility | Teen Ink

Probability and Possibility

August 12, 2009
By Musica_Pamdemic BRONZE, Fremont, California
Musica_Pamdemic BRONZE, Fremont, California
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Probability and possibility are too entirely different things, but at the same time, they are entirely the same. They both start with p; they also both have the same suffix, and in a way, mean the same thing. They have to do with something happening, but in two entirely different ways. The way they work are along the same guidelines, however probability suggests, that’s its an unlikely occurrence, and can give you a number on to how likely it is to happen. Possibility on the other hand, is more of a two way street, either it’s possible, or it’s impossible. Then Philosophy kicks in, with those annoying questions that make almost no sense, and you once again have probability and possibility.

There is a 90% chance that I will be going to soccer practice tomorrow, something would have to be seriously wrong with me not to go to practice- that is probability. An accurate estimation of the likeliness of an occurrence, yet at the same time it seems almost inaccurate in a way. Another one of those annoying questions we hate-is magic real? Do vampires exist? Truth is, there’s a pretty good chance that they aren’t real. Reality suggests that everything follows a law; science contradicts the idea of magic and vampires. You can’t pull a rabbit out of a hat, it goes against the laws of physics, and as far as being undead- it wouldn’t be possible right? Your body requires those nourishments, requires for you to breathe, you need air to talk; animals are the same way- they require some type of nourishment to survive- they breathe in some way, be it gills, or lungs- they live. However there is that .000000000001 chance, (not an accurate representation of the likely hood of an occurrence) that it is possible.

It’s possible to hold your breathe for 5 minutes. Its hard, it’s unlikely that an average American could do it, infact, it’s not likely for an average person to do it all, but its still possible. Infact, when you think about it, nothing is impossible. Possibility is more of a joke to the mind. Many things may seem impossible, and for a person some things may be deemed impossible, such as not everyone can run a marathon, its hard, it requires training but it’s possible. So is being undead possible? Is pointing a wand at an object and saying some magical word to make it levitate possible? Honestly, yes, in a way it could very well be possible. Albeit many people will tell you, it is impossible, but honestly, nothing is truly impossible. As for levitating objects, I’m sure someday we’ll come up with a product that you place underneath something that is sound or remote activated, that will lift your object up. Then I’m sure children will walk around with their makeshift wands and point at something, yell the ‘magic’ words and suddenly Harry Potter is real, and they are wizards, and they have accomplished, what had previously been deemed impossible.

Possibility and Probability contradict each other in a way, probability will tell you in an exact slightly unreasonable number how not possible something is, how physicals improbable sprouting wings and flying is- but it won’t say it’s impossible. It will simply suggest the impossibility of it. When you think about it, the possibility of vampires truly existing, is one of the hardest to believe theory out there, they would have had to penetrate the government, in all countries, and have been so deeply rooted and found some way of surviving without dining on delectable humans that its would be amazing to find and break this underground network. One that us, normal people, would have been totally oblivious too, regardless of the fact that they were most likely hiding in broad daylight, laughing at us as we make feeble attempts to personify their characters in games and stories, painting them as savage creatures, or heartfelt lovers that are cursed with eternal life. Its such an unlikely concept, that its almost impossible, to believe that a network of vampires had infiltrated our semi-useless government, and more or less run our tiny insignificant lives- but it’s possible.

Science however is the ultimate contradiction to any type of living such as this, as science is based on pure fact- what you can prove. Science says that earth was most likely created in an event people like to call the big bang, where there was an explosion on the sun and then all the planets flew out of it like debris, and scattered all around to float off, only they were caught in the suns intense gravitational pull- far enough to not get sucked into the sun itself, but close enough to maintain an orbit around this massive ball of inflamed gas. Science says that the idea of a god, that can control things, here your prayers- it’s not possible, or rather, it’s not probable. Back in the 1800s, if we had suggested making long distance calls using a giant satellite in the sky, to reach someone a thousand miles away, people, scientists, doctors, historians, they would have said it was impossible. However that is exactly what teenagers do every 5 minutes of their lives [not an accurate representation of how often a ten texts or calls, rather a hyperbole, or stereotype]. The possibility of anything, is always yes, it is possible, yeah, one day Billy you can be the president, it’s possible, Sarah, when Billy’s president you can form an insanely complicated plan involving an intense underground network of Billy haters and dealers to assassinate him and get away with it- it is possible. You can do it.

I suppose what I am trying to say is, don’t be one of those people that laugh at kids for reading 500 pages of mediocre writing, becoming obsessed with the characters and ideas and run around pretending to be Edward Cullen or Bella Swan, or trying to make things die using that one spell from Harry Potter, because, for all you know, it is possible, it can be true. JK Rowling might have had personal experiences from her school of magic, and that is why she so aptly knows her wizard-ing facts and abilities. Anything is possible, you don’t have to have an imagination, you can be as boring as can be, so long as you believe the fundamental truth that some how some way, anything and everything is possible, that you can defy gravity and float away into the vacuum of space. Sure, your more likely to emplode due to the intense pressure, and then lack of pressure that space provides, seeing as it’s more or less empty of everything but planetal debris, man made [and alien made] objects floating in it, not to mention stars and planets and elements and all that fun stuff- it’s empty other then that.

Possibility and Probability are just a mind game- they only give you an idea. It’s what you do with that probability, that seemingly impossible idea, that makes the difference. It’s all in the way you think about it.


The author's comments:
It took me a while to write this, but i thought about it hard, and this is what I wrote.

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