“A Bridge hand consists of 13 random cards taken from a deck that holds 52 cards. The total number of possible Bridge hands is thus: COMBIN = 635,013,559,600.”
So the odds against whatever hand you’re holding right now are 635,013,559,600 to 1.* And yet, here you are holding it. Furthermore, 3 similar miracles are occurring right there at the same table.
––––––
*or slightly better than the chances the national debt will be paid off in your lifetime
I thought this was going to be about metaphysical dread before the here and now! How disappointing! Just kidding, this is a brilliant multiple-level strip, and I laughed out loud. Just remember what Buckaroo Banzai taught us in the gospel that traverses Eight Dimensions, “No matter where you go, there you are!”
Once in a while, if you’re paying attention — and probably more often if you’re paying better attention — you will take in the vast wonder of the universe around you and, in the words of the exquisite writer Tim Cahill, “be tempted to commit philosophy.” And if you do it right, or at least if you do it like I do, you will be amazed by just how big that universe is and just how long time lasts. And then you’ll be foolish enough to consider your tiny, short place in that scheme, and you will feel like the minuscule vapor droplet in the ocean that you are.
But then you’ll reverse the tables and think about what had to come together for minuscule you to exist at all, let alone in the, let’s face it, pretty interesting form you present.
And that makes you very huge indeed. At least I think so. I could be wrong. But really, what are the odds of that?
At the absolute least that your two parents were in the mood at just the right time that that specific combination of half of your father’s genes won the race…
TwilightFaze about 5 years ago
Reminds me of the RvB skit, Ever Wonder Why We’re Here. Just as funny!
whahoppened about 5 years ago
C’mon Frazz, it may be a very high number but not infinite.
pschearer Premium Member about 5 years ago
Yet here we are.
asrialfeeple about 5 years ago
Frazz is on a roll again.
Old Girl about 5 years ago
You could shuffle those balloons and it wouldn’t make any more sense.
Sportymonk about 5 years ago
Was there a big game going on? (I don’t watch basketball, too boring)
jessegooddog about 5 years ago
We could do so much better if we kept those thoughts.
Richard S Russell Premium Member about 5 years ago
“A Bridge hand consists of 13 random cards taken from a deck that holds 52 cards. The total number of possible Bridge hands is thus: COMBIN = 635,013,559,600.”
So the odds against whatever hand you’re holding right now are 635,013,559,600 to 1.* And yet, here you are holding it. Furthermore, 3 similar miracles are occurring right there at the same table.
––––––
*or slightly better than the chances the national debt will be paid off in your lifetime
Stephen Gilberg about 5 years ago
I didn’t know they aired basketball that late.
jerak about 5 years ago
I really like today’s comic! (And R. Russell’s Bridge analogy made it even better.)
Kind&Kinder about 5 years ago
I thought this was going to be about metaphysical dread before the here and now! How disappointing! Just kidding, this is a brilliant multiple-level strip, and I laughed out loud. Just remember what Buckaroo Banzai taught us in the gospel that traverses Eight Dimensions, “No matter where you go, there you are!”
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] about 5 years ago
PostsFrazz14 hrs ·
Once in a while, if you’re paying attention — and probably more often if you’re paying better attention — you will take in the vast wonder of the universe around you and, in the words of the exquisite writer Tim Cahill, “be tempted to commit philosophy.” And if you do it right, or at least if you do it like I do, you will be amazed by just how big that universe is and just how long time lasts. And then you’ll be foolish enough to consider your tiny, short place in that scheme, and you will feel like the minuscule vapor droplet in the ocean that you are.
But then you’ll reverse the tables and think about what had to come together for minuscule you to exist at all, let alone in the, let’s face it, pretty interesting form you present.
And that makes you very huge indeed. At least I think so. I could be wrong. But really, what are the odds of that?
Mad Sci about 5 years ago
At the absolute least that your two parents were in the mood at just the right time that that specific combination of half of your father’s genes won the race…