Unexpected

By Jacob W Robinson

Unexpected is a philosophical work about the unexpected, how it impacts our lives, and how we can use it to bring about change. Numerous examples are given throughout the book to illustrate the philosophical concepts and make them easier to understand. In addition to the unexpected, the work addresses familiarity, uncertainty, perception, and getting lost. It outlines techniques for bringing the unexpected into our own lives, which can lead to greater personal understanding and growth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jacob W Robinson
• Release date: Feb 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310504006

Jacob W Robinson

Jacob W Robinson has a diverse background and many interests. He grew up in Utah, but has lived in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Illinois, Hawaii, Georgia, and Florida. In the past he has been a teacher, tutor, wilderness instructor, clerk, yoga instructor, and factory worker. He currently makes his living practicing aerospace, occupational, and environmental medicine as a military physician and officer. He is married to his wife Heidi and has multiple children.

Book preview

Unexpected

By Jacob W Robinson

Copyright 2015 Jacob W Robinson

Table of Contents

Unexpected (1-36)

Familiarity (37-55)

Uncertainty (56-76)

Lost (77-87)

Purposefully Getting Lost (88-129)

Lost Methods (130-147)

Perception (148-167)

Extensions (168 188)

Application to Societies (189-204)

Afterword

Notes

About the Author

Unexpected

1. All around, everywhere, is the unexpected.

2. The unexpected can be encountered in many ways.

I am amazed at how easy it is, and some days how hard it is, to encounter the unexpected. The unexpected can be encountered by walking down the street, by reading a book, by having a conversation with a friend, or in countless other ways. One can even encounter the unexpected by doing nothing at all. I find it easier to encounter the unexpected if I am actively engaged in something, but it is not necessary to be doing anything.

3. The unexpected comes in many forms; events, people, places, things.

I think it would be helpful for me to give some examples of encountering the unexpected, to give you, the reader, a better idea of what the unexpected is, and what it is like to encounter it. Consider that you are walking one morning and a mugger attacks you, steeling your wallet or purse. From then on you are a little more cautious when you go out. The mugging was unexpected. Consider that you visit New York City and you find you like New York so much you want to live there. New York was unexpected. Or perhaps you are at a party and you meet someone that makes you want to change or be a different person. That person was unexpected. If you’re out at the movies, and you find the movie disturbing, but when you get out you find that it has changed your view the world, at least a little. The movie was unexpected. Perhaps these aren’t the best examples of the unexpected, but hopefully you can look into your own life and find many examples of encountering the unexpected.

4. The unexpected is more common than not. It can be found around the corner across the room, or in the next person one meets. The unexpected can be found anywhere.

Mostly I think the unexpected can be encountered anywhere and anyway (see 2) because even one’s thoughts can be unexpected, but partly it is because anything can act as the unexpected. Take dreams as another example. There are many times I have encountered the unexpected while dreaming only to awake to a realization of how I wanted to change my life.

5. Proximity increases the power of the unexpected.

Proximity to the unexpected can involve distance, emotions, or sensory factors. Consider a storm that devastates or wrecks a city. Hearing about the disaster may be unexpected, changing your thoughts or impelling you to give to charity or relief organizations, but how much more unexpected is the storm for those who live in the city. Consider my family. I have several siblings. Each person who came into our family was unexpected for me, but I believe it was more powerful for my parents because they were more emotionally involved. Basically, those that are closest or most involved with an encounter with the unexpected are more likely to be changed by it more than those that are removed from it.

6. The unexpected does not distinguish between good or bad, right or wrong, pain or pleasure, ethical or unethical, moral or amoral. The unexpected can be disruptive or constructive, clean or unclean, disturbing or enlightening. The unexpected can be miraculous and disastrous, sometimes both at once.

I hope the idea expressed in statement 6 is already becoming clear from previous examples, but if not here are a couple more. Consider a young woman who is raped. The rape is unexpected. I can think of few worse ways to encounter the unexpected. At the other extreme, consider finally meeting the person you want to spend your life with, and the moment you realize they are that person. Such an event is also life changing, unexpected.

It’s hard to classify the unexpected because of its eventual impact. If the young woman who was raped becomes a women’s advocate because of her experience and works with organizations to build safer communities, the unexpected could be considered as having a good result. Or if the person you believe you should spend your life with turns out to be abusive, leading to long term struggle for freedom from torture, the unexpected could be considered a bad event. Because the unexpected can impact a person in several ways, it becomes difficult to classify such events on any scale.

7. The unexpected can encompass any combination of attributes when it is encountered.

I think the comments in 6 are sufficient and apply equally well to 7.

8. The unexpected, while not always pleasant, can always be viewed as interesting, never boring.

While sometimes painful or undesirable, I have found that the unexpected tends to shape lives. You might not always like it, but the unexpected gives a great deal of color to life. Of course even boredom can become the unexpected. If a person is constantly bored it may be the impetus, the unexpected, to go out and try something new.

9. The actual encounter makes it unexpected, not whether the encounter was predicted or not.

There are numerous example of an encounter with the unexpected being predicted, but still unexpected. Once again consider parents. They may have a good idea when their child is due, and have done everything possible to prepare for him or her, but it will almost always be unexpected when the child is born. Or consider a trip to someplace new. One may know when one is going, what one is going to do, but the events actually taking place can be unexpected.

10. When one encounters another the encounter can be unexpected. When one first encounters any other it is, to one degree or another, unexpected.

The first thing that must be defined about statement 10 is the meaning of another. The most obvious meaning is people, but animals can be encountered also, and I make no judgments about plants. Ask a gardener. Generally when I think of another, I take it to mean someone or something that can encounter me as I encounter it. Another must be able to respond to one as one responds to it.

The second part of 10 hopefully becomes clear when you consider that when one meets another, one almost always forms opinions about them. These opinions actually are small changes in how one views the world. One tends to categorize, and ones categorizations tend to reflect who one is becoming.

11. The unexpected can be the product of oneself or another; humans create the unexpected all the time, introducing the unexpected to themselves and others.

Not only can others be unexpected, but what they create can be unexpected. I often think of books, art, and the media when I think of people creating the unexpected, but people also create the unexpected by creating events. Consider terrorist or criminal acts. Consider war. These are events created by people that will impact hundreds or thousands of lives.

12. Often one doesn’t see, understand, experience, or do the unexpected.

I may have exaggerated this statement a bit. People are, after all, encountering the unexpected all the time. Still we oftentimes wrap ourselves in conformity and our own identity, not looking at things that will force change in our lives. For more on this see the familiar 37-55.

13. One often forgets the unexpected and will rediscover it again through a further encounter.

Forgetting the unexpected happens often. I often gain the resolve to change and then find that resolve dissolving. I often forget the beauty of an encounter with the unexpected only to remember it again. Sometimes it takes several encounters