00. Icon (Horace Walpole)

^^^ THE THREE PRINCES OF SERENDIP ^^^

''"In ancient times there existed in the country of Serendippo, in the Far East, a great and powerful king by the name of Giaffer. He had three sons who were very dear to him. And being a good father and very concerned about their education, he decided that he had to leave them endowed not only with great power, but also with all kinds of virtues of which princes are particularly in need." 

 The father searches out the best possible tutors. "And to them he entrusted the training of his sons, with the understanding that the best they could do for him was to teach them in such a way that they could be immediately recognized as his very own."  

When the tutors are pleased with the excellent progress that the three princes make in the arts and sciences, they report it to the king. He, however, still doubts their training, and summoning each in turn, declares that he will retire to the contemplative life leaving them as king. Each politely declines, affirming the father's superior wisdom and fitness to rule.  

The king is pleased, but fearing that his sons' education may have been too sheltered and privileged, feigns anger at them for refusing the throne and sends them away from the land.  

No sooner do the three princes arrive abroad than they trace clues to identify precisely a camel they have never seen. They conclude that the camel is lame, blind in one eye, missing a tooth, carrying a pregnant woman, and bearing honey on one side and butter on the other. When they later encounter the merchant who has lost the camel, they report their observations to him. He accuses them of stealing the camel and takes them to the Emperor Beramo, where he demands punishment.  

Beramo asks how they are able to give such an accurate description of the camel if they have never seen it. It is clear from the princes' replies that they have used small clues to infer cleverly the nature of the camel.  Grass had been eaten from the side of the road where it was less green, so the princes had inferred that the camel was blind on the other side. Because there were lumps of chewed grass on the road that were the size of a camel’s tooth, they inferred they had fallen through the gap left by a missing tooth. The tracks showed the prints of only three feet, the fourth being dragged, indicating that the animal was lame. That butter was carried on one side of the camel and honey on the other was evident because ants had been attracted to melted butter on one side of the road and flies to spilled honey on the other.  

As for the woman, one of the princes said: "I guessed that the camel must have carried a woman, because I had noticed that near the tracks where the animal had knelt down the imprint of a foot was visible. Because some urine was nearby, I wet my fingers and as a reaction to its odour I felt a sort of carnal concupiscence, which convinced me that the imprint was of a woman’s foot." 

 "I guessed that the same woman must have been pregnant," said another prince, "because I had noticed nearby handprints which were indicative that the woman, being pregnant, had helped herself up with her hands while urinating."  

At this moment, a traveller enters the scene to say that he has just found a missing camel wandering in the desert. Beramo spares the lives of the three princes, lavishes rich rewards on them, and appoints them to be his advisors.

 >> Horace Walpole <<

It's what Michael Oakeshott called the pursuit of intimations or what others call dumb luck. Human progress often comes by accident, improvisation, random confluences, and unintended consequences. Science is often just as sensitive to serendipity as other fields of research. 

A few years ago my father gave me a book by Pek van Andel - promoter of serendipity - about serendipity, this book - which only contains around 150 pages - changed my life. This book made me realize things about human progress, about acceptance, disappointments and finding out things without being searching for them.

It made me realize that at the moment you know that you are exactly where you need to be, you don’t second guess your actions that led you to where you are today, but somehow you trust that it feels right. Serendipity. The happiness of knowing that you followed your 'heart' (I do not believe in 'the heart' theory by the way), embraced a challenge and disciplined yourself to trust your intuition. 

Although Horace Walpole is the icon here, Pek van Andel was the one who changed my perception, and my father was the one who gave me the possibility to get familiar with this beautiful word. So who is the icon in the end? Walpole, van Andel or my father? 

The chance is an event, serendipity a capacity.