#theserendipityengine

[theserendipityengine]

I live for coincidences. They briefly give to me the illusion or the hope that there's a pattern to my life, and if there's a pattern, then maybe I'm moving toward some kind of destiny where it's all explained.

This is Jonathan Ames (via Adam Gee, with whom I share an unhealthy fascination for serendipity). It represents a good example of one psychological motivation seeking serendipity: to create order out of chaos.

[theserendipityengine]

divan-E-Hafez: an ancient answer to a modern problem

I received this delightful message from a friend the other day:

I have been catching up on your latest work (I've ordered untangling the web), and I've been reading about your serendipity engine.

I was thinking about this in a religious context (as religion is often a place where can find long established practise that people have accepted and 'works' in some context).

Are you aware of the 'divan-E-Hafez'? Iranians use this book of poetry as their inspiration for thinking about new things or making a decision. They open it at random and read the spiritual poetry on the page. They then interpret it as they like to give them a new source of direction. It is not strictly religious, as religious people will use the Quran instead of this book.

Sikhs will often do the same thing with our Holy book.

We know it doesn't specifically answer questions, but it does provide guidance and new sources of inspiration. Could this be an ancient answer to a modern problem? ;-)

His words have pointed me in a wonderfully un-explored direction in the serendipity engine. Kat and I considered it in the first iteration of the device, but Ben and I haven't been able to satisfactorily integrate it into mk2: the idea of divinity, karma, fate and other attributions of serendipity that involve external interceptions.

Thankfully, with the info provided by this friend, the divan-E-Hafez has been woven into the story we're telling in The Last Bus to Serendip, the BBC Radio 4 programme about my search for the ingredients to go into a recipe for serendipity.

And in the process, our amazing researcher - Elizabeth-Ann Duffy - has discovered a virtual version, in case you're searching…

The programme airs Thursday 5th September at 9am, and is produced by The Digital Human colleague Peter McManus.