The Flash Season 4: Facing Obstacles
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
-
Determinism
15 min read
The article explores DeVoe's ability to calculate and predict all possible outcomes, contrasting free will with predetermined events. Understanding determinism provides philosophical context for the tension between characters who believe they can control fate versus those who accept uncertainty.
-
Consequentialism
15 min read
DeVoe's justification for harming individuals to 'save humanity' is a classic consequentialist dilemma - whether ends justify means. This ethical framework directly applies to the article's central conflict between Barry's deontological heroism and DeVoe's utilitarian extremism.
-
Laplace's demon
15 min read
DeVoe's claim to have calculated 'seven thousand seven hundred and ninety eight variations' mirrors Laplace's famous thought experiment about a hypothetical intellect that could predict all future events. This concept illuminates the article's themes about the limits of prediction and control.
Almost nothing ever goes exactly according to plan.
You can't plan for absolutely everything. They're going to go wrong. Someone isn't going to arrive on time despite their attempt to. Either due to traffic along the way or construction they hadn't planned on avoiding. Maybe they got a call from a family member or friend which made them late because they had to deal with that first. People get sick, they trip and fall, they don't get the job that they want or find out things they don't want to know. It's an unfortunate reality that reality doesn't conform to what we believe is best for us.
It takes a lot of effort to even begin to make sure that things don't go horribly wrong simply because of random chance or human decision making. Very few people have the kind of knowledge and forward planning necessary to eliminate all the possible things that can go wrong. Largely because they don't have the ability to see the future. However, if you study enough about human behaviour and the potential for reality to cause problems, you can find a way around them. Plan for them far enough ahead to ensure that even if they do go wrong. They can leave earlier than they would need to make sure that despite the possibility of traffic and calls from friends and family, you can still make it there at the expected time. You can still hold the event you want to have.
Previously in this space, we've looked at the idea of starting out on a journey of self improvement, then we looked at how to work harder when you feel like there are people who are better than you. More recently we've looked at the idea of having goals and how this impacts your ability to improve. That's not the end of the story though. Just because you have set yourself a goal to worker harder and push yourself further in your journey towards what you want doesn't mean you will have no problems along the way. Someone will get in your way or even actively work against you. There is always this potential, but when it comes right down to it, the smarter that a person is, the more likely they are able to create problems for you.
...“If you've miscalculated by even a decimal...”
“There is not a decimal, a fraction,
This excerpt is provided for preview purposes. Full article content is available on the original publication.