Knowing

Whether or not we're definitively living according to unalterable predetermined quotients, or caught within a random vortex which coincidentally conspires with in/coherency, remains to be undeniably ascertained, compelling evidence for both tempting sides as easy to come by as night following day.

But "determinism" as it's referred to in Knowing seems like the more profitable option, or at least has many more adherents manipulating facts and outcomes to make it appear so.

It's a safer bet to generally proceed according to paradigmatic guidelines, which can be slowly adjusted throughout time with enough variation to dismiss accusations of tampering.

Things may appear to possess the refreshment of novelty but in fact generally fit with a rational scheme, macroconceived to maximize profit without upsetting sociocultural structures.

Thus things often appear to be randomly orchestrating nothing in particular without taking notice, which a well-oiled slipstream then indubitably classifies as culturally applicable non-disruptive elements.

The non-disruptive elements are then historically categorized as if to appear like they're evolutionary.

Bets are made, profits generated.

If only to decipher the code.

In Knowing, a clairvoyant girl writes down the dates and GPS coordinates for 50 years worth of disasters, then locks them away in a time capsule, which is unearthed half a century later.

They're decoded by a grieving astronomer whose devout partner passed not long ago, and unfortunately there's not much time left before the entire planet is suddenly destroyed.

I'm a sucker for these kinds of narratives so I enjoyed it as they set about unravelling the mystery, bit of a drag with the catastrophic outcome not that there isn't the possibility of escape.

I was watching a nature documentary one evening where a lion caught a fledgling warthog, who was none too impressed with his predicament, and proceeded to assail the lion with cacophonous grunting.

Did that lion happen upon the warthog at random and were his delirious grunts the product of genuine distress, or had it been absolutely predetermined that that lion should catch that specific warthog on film, for others to watch?

I try to proceed randomly myself a lot of the time it's much more fun to imagine things so.

And I hold out hope for random generation.

Do Twin Peaks (the Original Series), The Prisoner, Elementary, Star Trek, and Trailer Park Boys qualify?

*Look at the Freedom Convoy. Was it random or predetermined? At first glance it seems most certainly random. But now both Trudeau Prime Ministers have used Emergency Acts.