Today's post is dedicated to the law of averages. A periodic reminder of its existence can be a good substitute for faith for atheists. To the believers, it is yet another manifestation of the divine law, of course :-).

Do you always screw up? Do bad things happen to you regularly? Fear not. The law of averages says that you can't keep on getting it wrong; in the long term (no, I am not talking about years here), you will get it right an equal number of times as well. You just have to be patient. That is why people say you have to keep persevering, hard work will always bear fruit, and so on.

But what if you simply cannot succeed after repeated tries in some endeavour? Then we move up and apply the law at a meta level; In the long run, you are equally likely to choose dead-end options as you are of choosing good ones. So you come out ahead all the same.

But what if you are a total loser, and everything you touch turns into ash? Fear not. In the larger scheme of things, this life is just one of your countless rebirths. In the long run...

I think you get the drift.