Gambler's Ruin is the twenty-fourth chapter in the Fourth Configuration. Malcolm explains the Gambler's Ruin theory as he, Harding and Thorne search for Dodgson and King.
Plot[]
As Thorne drives Ian Malcolm and Sarah Harding in search for Lewis Dodgson and Howard King, Richard Levine checks in via radio, asking how many Tyrannosaurus were killed and stolen and after learning, as he always does, says it is a small matter and just stop Dodgson and King. Harding remarks that one can't observe animals without altering the anything, calling it a scientific impossibility and Malcolm agrees. Malcom says that it is the greatest scientific discovery of the twentieth century. Michael Crichton writes that scientists believe since the time of Galileo, that they were studying the natural world from an objective perspective. By the twentieth century, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle proved that any scientific study would change what one attempted to measure.
Yet Malcolm claims he is more concerned about the Gambler's Ruin, not objectivity. He explains that a gambler would lose a dollar in every coin toss but Harding says it is a 50-50 chance of losing or wining and finally the gambler will lose. Malcolm adds that no, the gambler will lose over the long term stating casinos stay in business due to this. Across the gambler's game, there is a period where he or she might win, or lose and it stays that. This phenomena occurs in nature such as rivers flowing, heartbeats and stock markets. If anything terrible occurs, it will stay so. The chapter ends with Harding wonder if all hell will break out and Malcolm wondering where Dodgson and King are.
Trivia[]
- The Gambler's Ruin theory was previously mentioned in the Prologue: "Life at the Edge of Chaos". You can find another example of the theory here.
- It is another of the shortest chapters in The Lost World.
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