So, again, we skipped the walk in the park and we met for a tea. A hot one to unfreeze those parts of the body that we did not feel anymore after the walk to the tea house.
"So, bring it on", said Satty waiting for the question of the day. He promised to answer one, but only one question per day and so far he kept his word.
"Here it is:
Is the National Lottery manipulated?"
Satty was taking a sip of the hot tea and started laughing at the same time which caused him to choke...
"Ha, ha, ha, this is a good question. The answer is No, it isn't", he said and continued to drink.
"That's it?" I asked.
"Yeah, that's is. You had a question and I gave you an answer. This is what we agreed upon."
I was a bit disappointed to tell you the truth, but, hey, he was right, he gave me the answer...
"So, I'll just have to pray long enough and maybe I will win", I said thinking about the joke he told me the other day.
"That will not help though", he said.
"Yeah, of course, if the lottery is not manipulated, then everything is by chance, a chance that is so slim that you can consider it zero."
"Nothing is by chance", Satty said.
"What do you mean?", I asked. "Everything is by chance. Lottery is by chance: some balls moving into a basket and one being picked out. This is by chance."
"Not really."
"So you are saying that the Lottery IS manipulated?"
"Yes, it is."
"But you've just said that it is not."
"Yes, it is not."
"Making fun of me?"
"Not really. It is manipulated, but not by whom you think, not by people running it, or by the government or by a secret organization."
"By whom then?"
"By a universal law that organizes all in the universe."
"By God you mean."
"This is a simplistic name and it makes you think of a guy with beard running all. It is not that."
"Then?!?"
"Think for a bit. Is the fact that you came here by chance?"
"Not really", I said, "I chose to do that to meet you."
"Exactly. Are the clothes you have on you there by chance? Probably not, you picked them up this morning..."
"Well actually my wife did..." I said smiling.
"Yes and she didn't do it by chance. Is this table here by chance? No, it is not. Is this nice tea nice by chance? Is this building by chance, the road, this city, this country? Of course not, somebody at one point made a decision and as a result these all came to life.
So is everything else. All those things we think are by chance, for example the colour of your eyes, are not really by chance. There is a reason for being so.
We can go further. The moment of your birth is not by chance, nor is the moment of your death. Whom you meet and when you meet, who is your friend, who is you parent, who is you son of daughter. None is by chance.
And to answer your question, as I think this is what you are trying to ask in the first place.
Winning a lottery is not an event that takes place by chance. There is a reason behind it..."
"So you are saying all is predefined and we don't really have free will..."
"He he he, I am not so easily tricked. You have your question today. If you want to talk about the free will, we can. But another day..."
(More Q&A with Satty here. If you have a question, send it over.)
