Asymmetrical

The concept of asymmetry is an interesting one, for one would expect it to be the natural state of a random universe. At the same time, the idea of randomness is that it should eventually be chaotic all round, and hence oddly symmetrical. The two concepts have always been at odds, sort of.

Here's an illustration. Throw 20 coins in the air and let them land randomly. Odds are that you will get 10 heads and 10 tails, right? Actually, not quite. The odds are higher that you will get a 9-11 split; that is, the combined odds of getting 9 heads and 11 tails or 9 tails and 11 heads are higher than that of the 10-10 split.

It's this phenomenon that bridge players exploit when thinking about who has what cards. If you have five cards in a suit and your partner has none, then it's more likely that of the eight remaining cards, your opponents have a 5-3 split than a 4-4 split. That dictates your pattern of play: they are more likely to run out in 3 rounds than in 4.

The universe, paradoxically, is like that. The average is like a 10-10 split, but the reality is normally a 9-11 split out of 20 coins.

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Meanwhile, elsewhere, THIS is a brilliant idea. Jane Austen and the undead, all in one. Wow, what a classic!