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Ever unpredictable

Last week's issue of the News was all about all the unforgettable stuff that happened in 2009. And now, here we are in 2010, (hopefully) none the worse for wear.

At the moment, the new year is too young to have made an impression. Rather, the world is still in hangover mode from 2009.

In the media world, that means it will take a few weeks before the buzz at the tail end of 2009 (think the Christmas terrorism attempt, the U.S. health-care bill, Copenhagen) settles down and makes way for whatever the big thing will be in 2010.

This relatively tame period (lingering goodwill left over from the holidays and nothing new to get mad about yet) is an excellent opportunity for a bit of extra navel-gazing on our part.

Sure, we remember 2009, but did we learn anything?

The answer, of course, depends entirely on whom you ask.

For our part, there is just one lesson that we will carry and cherish above all others from 2009 (until we forget in two months), but it is a humdinger!

Former U.S. defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld famously talked once about "known knowns", "known unknowns", and "unknown unknowns" when making the case for going to war with Iraq.

He was widely chided in the media for introducing the admittedly convoluted-sounding phrases into widespread but still incomprehensible use.

OK, so maybe the American rationale for war does not hold water, but Rumsfeld was definitely on to something when he started on the "unknown unknowns."

A philosophical friend of ours once said that logically speaking, there is no predictable order in the universe.

As he explained, just because an event occurs in such-and-such a manner one time, or two times, or a billion times, that does not mean the event will play out the same way again.

For example, the sun has risen every day in human memory, but that is no proof that tomorrow, it will happen again.

If Mr. Sun decided not to come out just once, it would completely change our understanding of the world (or, more likely, it would simply remove all understanding and leave behind only figurative and literal darkness).

That is the world we live in, one fraught with endless possibilities, and the terrifying implications of such.

The last year here has demonstrated that amply (happily, at least sometimes for the good). In 2010, we are (almost) certain the "unknown unknowns" will upend expectations anew.

So, as fun as it is to make predictions and try to anticipate what happens next, we will refrain this year, though we thank the intrepid columnists who gave it a shot.

And we can say this: we look forward to seeing this new year unfold and telling you all about it!

P.S.- As of press time for the Dec. 30 issue, the numbers were unavailable to our Dec. 23 poll question: "Will Aspen Planers reopen Ainsworth's Lillooet mill?"

Out of a total of 31 votes, only 32 per cent answered "Yes" compared to 68 per cent voting "No." We will know soon enough…

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