In film noir* and noir fiction* things get real fast. People get beat up, run off the road, or killed. Or spend the whole time fleeing the bad guys. There’s a sense of urgency.

Here in the high country I am far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife. But no place is far enough away in the 21st century! We are all passengers together on this third rock from the sun.

When I look at the world I see complex systems that have fixed ranges and physical constraints. All choices are trade-offs and there is no escape from consequences. Uncertainty—and randomness—are omnipresent.

I think it’s the right word.

*from Eddie Muller:

“The genuine darkness in noir stories comes from two places—the cruelty of the world’s innate indifference, and the cruelty that people foster within themselves.”