Path Dependency

I think the single most important thing about our lives...is the past. Much as how many of us will undoubtedly have regrets about how the past went, well I think where we are today is a product of exactly that. For better or worse anyway.

I'm thinking back about all the shit I went through when I was younger. To this day, I still think it's shit and I'm not happy about it. You can have that on the record. Then again, when I think about the alternatives, I realize that I wouldn't be who I am today, doing the work I do, had things actually went better for me. In fact, I'd most likely be in a line of work that gives me way less satisfaction. It is interesting that my life today is indeed literally the product of a series of unfortunate events. Hmm. Of course, the rest is how I deal with those events, which is another story for another day.

While we're on the topic, I'm meditating on what I know of as path dependency. Simply put, where you were will help determine where you'll go. It's an unfortunate fact of life, and it does make me wonder just how much of the world's population is victimized by this, whereby they aren't given fair opportunities at the early parts of their lives, resulting in their not having a fair chance at life when they grow up. I look around me and think...a heckuva lot. For me, it was a happy accident so far. But for many others, I can only wish them all the best.