--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Imagine 1050 blind persons each with a…" description: "\"Imagine 1050 blind persons each with a scrambled Rubik's cube, and try to conceive of the chance of them all simultaneously arriving at the solved form..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/454/fred-hoyle-11367_arriving_imagine-1050-blind-persons-each-with-a-s_2825732.jpg" --- # Imagine 1050 blind persons each with a scrambled Rubik's… ![“Imagine 1050 blind persons each with a scrambled Rubik's cube, and try to conceive of the chance of them all simultaneously arriving at the solved form. You then have a chance of arriving by random shuffling, of just one of the many biopolymers on which life depends. The notion that not only the…” quote by Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/454/fred-hoyle-11367_arriving_imagine-1050-blind-persons-each-with-a-s_2825732.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/454/fred-hoyle-11367_arriving_imagine-1050-blind-persons-each-with-a-s_2825732.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/454/fred-hoyle-11367_arriving_imagine-1050-blind-persons-each-with-a-s_2825732.jpg) > “Imagine 1050 blind persons each with a scrambled Rubik's cube, and try to conceive of the chance of them all simultaneously arriving at the solved form. You then have a chance of arriving by random shuffling, of just one of the many biopolymers on which life depends. The notion that not only the biopolymers but the operating program of a living cell could be arrived at by chance in a primordial organic soup here on the Earth is evidently nonsense of a high order.” [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Random chance alone cannot explain the complex order of life’s molecular machinery. **In simple terms:** Chance can’t create life’s complexity. Key Takeaway Recognize limits of random models. Themes science skepticism complexity Mood analytical critical Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - origin of life research - education - public discourse Key Concepts probability biochemistry Questions to Reflect On - What evidence supports design over chance? - How does this view affect scientific inquiry? A Different Perspective Some argue randomness plus time suffices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arriving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arriving/) [Biopolymers Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biopolymers-life-3622385/) [Blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind/) [Blind person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind-person/) [Cells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cells/) [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Chance Primordial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance-primordial-3622386/) [Chance Simultaneously](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance-simultaneously-3622384/) [Cubes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cubes/) [Depends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depends/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Just Biopolymers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-biopolymers-3622387/) [Just one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-one/) [Nonsense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonsense/) [Notion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notion/) [Notion Biopolymers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notion-biopolymers-3622388/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Program](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/program/) [Shuffling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shuffling/) [Soup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soup/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) ## Related quotes > [I found myself face to face with a long line of people resembling extras off the set of Night of the Living Dead: shuffling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-frank/i-found-myself-face-to-face-with-a-long-line-of-people-resembling/) [Joan Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-frank/) > [Don't equate activity with efficiency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-mackay/don-t-equate-activity-with-efficiency/) [Harvey Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-mackay/) > [To most magicians, cards themselves are marvels...For one thing, they feel special in your hand. Touching them, holding them, shuffling - the whole process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-blaine/to-most-magicians-cards-themselves-are-marvels-for-one-thing-they/) [David Blaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-blaine/) > [It is very wonderful to see persons of the best sense passing hours together in shuffling and dividing a pack of cards with no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/it-is-very-wonderful-to-see-persons-of-the-best-sense-passing-hours/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Shuffling is the only thing which Nature cannot undo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/shuffling-is-the-only-thing-which-nature-cannot-undo/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [It is time to return to those core values, time to get back to basics: to self-discipline and respect for the law, to consideration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-major/it-is-time-to-return-to-those-core-values-time-to-get-back-to-basics/) [John Major](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-major/) > [Individuals are not stable things, they are fleeting. Chromosomes too are shuffled into oblivion, like hands of cards soon after they are dealt. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/individuals-are-not-stable-things-they-are-fleeting-chromosomes-too/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Then they set out along the blacktop in the gunmetal light, shuffling through the ash, each the other's world entire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/then-they-set-out-along-the-blacktop-in-the-gunmetal-light-shuffling/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [In people's eyes, in the swing, tramp, and trudge; in the bellow and uproar; the carriages, motor cars, omnibuses, vans, sandwich men shuffling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/in-people-s-eyes-in-the-swing-tramp-and-trudge-in-the-bellow-and/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [They say the cure is about happiness, but I understand now that it isn't, and it never was. It's about fear: fear of pain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/they-say-the-cure-is-about-happiness-but-i-understand-now-that-it-isn/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [Workable solutions for Earth are urgently needed. Saving seals and tigers, or fighting yet another oil pipeline through a wilderness area, while laudable, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-anthony/workable-solutions-for-earth-are-urgently-needed-saving-seals-and/) [Lawrence Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-anthony/) > [“Walking on a path of uncertainties, Shuffling on the probabilities of uncertainties, Waging on the possibilities of uncertainties, Waiting for the occurrences of uncertainties,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pushpa-rana/walking-on-a-path-of-uncertainties-shuffling-on-the-probabilities-of/) [Pushpa Rana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pushpa-rana/) > [OK, boss, I don't mind shuffling, but I won't scratch my head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruby-dee/ok-boss-i-don-t-mind-shuffling-but-i-won-t-scratch-my-head/) [Ruby Dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruby-dee/) > [Frankenstein feels like an ancient tale, the kind of traditional story that appears in many other forms. It appeals to something very primal, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-branagh/frankenstein-feels-like-an-ancient-tale-the-kind-of-traditional-story/) [Kenneth Branagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-branagh/) > [I don't want to use the word reorganization. Reorganization to me is shuffling boxes, moving boxes around. Transformation means that you're really fundamentally changing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-gerstner/i-don-t-want-to-use-the-word-reorganization-reorganization-to-me-is/) [Lou Gerstner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-gerstner/) ## More by Fred Hoyle > [“Life cannot have had a random beginning ... The trouble is that there are about 2000 enzymes, and the chance of obtaining them all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/life-cannot-have-had-a-random-beginning-the-trouble-is-that-there-are/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [ One \[idea\] was that the Universe started its life a finite time ago in a single huge explosion, and that the present expansion is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/one-idea-was-that-the-universe-started-its-life-a-finite-time-ago-in/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Some super-calculating intellect must have designed the properties of the carbon atom, otherwise the chance of my finding such an atom through the blind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/some-super-calculating-intellect-must-have-designed-the-properties-of/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [The suggestion that petroleum might have arisen from some transformation of squashed fish or biological detritus is surely the silliest notion to have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/the-suggestion-that-petroleum-might-have-arisen-from-some/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Not far from the meeting's venue, at one of the famed Observatory Club tea meetings, Fred once started a talk by saying, 'Oh, Ooh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/not-far-from-the-meeting-s-venue-at-one-of-the-famed-observatory-club/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Perhaps the most majestic feature of our whole existence is that while our intelligences are powerful enough to penetrate deeply into the evolution of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/perhaps-the-most-majestic-feature-of-our-whole-existence-is-that/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Hoyle's enduring insights into stars, nucleosynthesis, and the large-scale universe rank among the greatest achievements of 20th-century astrophysics. Moreover, his theories were unfailingly stimulating,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/hoyle-s-enduring-insights-into-stars-nucleosynthesis-and-the-large/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [In the popular mind, if Hoyle is remembered it is as the prime mover of the discredited Steady State theory of the universe. "Everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/in-the-popular-mind-if-hoyle-is-remembered-it-is-as-the-prime-mover/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [“I am an atheist, but as far as blowing up the world in a nuclear war goes, I tell them not to worry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/i-am-an-atheist-but-as-far-as-blowing-up-the-world-in-a-nuclear-war/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Science is prediction, not explanation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/science-is-prediction-not-explanation/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [I don't see the logic of rejecting data just because they seem incredible ... the establishment defends itself by complicating everything to the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/i-don-t-see-the-logic-of-rejecting-data-just-because-they-seem/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Earlier theories ... were based on the hypothesis that all the matter in the universe was created in one big bang at a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/earlier-theories-were-based-on-the-hypothesis-that-all-the-matter-in/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [It seems to be a characteristic of all great work that it creators wear a cloak of imprecision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/it-seems-to-be-a-characteristic-of-all-great-work-that-it-creators/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Once I had learnt my twelve times table (at the age of three) it was downhill all the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/once-i-had-learnt-my-twelve-times-table-at-the-age-of-three-it-was/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [The notion that not only the biopolymer but the operating program of a living cell could be arrived at by chance in a primordial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/the-notion-that-not-only-the-biopolymer-but-the-operating-program-of/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) [Explore all 60 Fred Hoyle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) ## More Arriving quotes > [Don´t be unnecessarily burdened by the past. Go on closing the chapters that you have read; there is no need to go back again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/don-t-be-unnecessarily-burdened-by-the-past-go-on-closing-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [With all due respect to UPS - it's a fine company - nobody cares about logistics. They care about that package arriving at their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-luntz/with-all-due-respect-to-ups-it-s-a-fine-company-nobody-cares-about/) [Frank Luntz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-luntz/) > [Please... tell me who you are and what you want. And if you think those are simple questions, keep in mind that most people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/please-tell-me-who-you-are-and-what-you-want-and-if-you-think-those/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [We see men who have accumulated great fortunes, but we often recognize only their triumph, overlooking the temporary defeats which they had to surmount…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/we-see-men-who-have-accumulated-great-fortunes-but-we-often-recognize/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-time-will-come-when-with-elation-you-will-greet-yourself-arriving/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [He must have driven this way countless times, and yet he had no memory of the scenery. He must have been so caught up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-joyce/he-must-have-driven-this-way-countless-times-and-yet-he-had-no-memory/) [Rachel Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-joyce/) > [When people know the desired destination, they’re free to improvise, as needed, in arriving there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chip-heath/when-people-know-the-desired-destination-they-re-free-to-improvise-as/) [Chip Heath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chip-heath/) > [It's not a question of arriving and putting in a whole new administration, but instead, arriving and "compacting" things as much as possible, reducing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-slim/it-s-not-a-question-of-arriving-and-putting-in-a-whole-new/) [Carlos Slim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-slim/) > [Upon arriving, meeting their teachers and signing up for classes, these students began to realize that their attendance at Delaware State University was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-n-castle/upon-arriving-meeting-their-teachers-and-signing-up-for-classes-these/) [Michael N. Castle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-n-castle/) > [If you travel as much as I do - 165,000 miles last year - you exist nowhere. You're always between heaven and earth, you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-houston/if-you-travel-as-much-as-i-do-165-000-miles-last-year-you-exist/) [Jean Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-houston/) > [It is the immigrant hordes who keep this country alive, the waves of them arriving year after year… Who believes in America more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/it-is-the-immigrant-hordes-who-keep-this-country-alive-the-waves-of/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [“I was so sure that I knew what they needed and what I wanted to sell them that I never stopped long enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-murray/i-was-so-sure-that-i-knew-what-they-needed-and-what-i-wanted-to-sell/) [Chris Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-murray/) > [You can be creative only when there is abandonment-which means, really, there is no sense of compulsion, no fear of not being, of not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/you-can-be-creative-only-when-there-is-abandonment-which-means-really/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [There are days when I don't want to go to the gym or find myself not super motivated upon arriving. I would visualize myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-smith/there-are-days-when-i-don-t-want-to-go-to-the-gym-or-find-myself-not/) [Kim Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-smith/) > [I left Montana in Spring of 1866, for Utah, arriving at Salt Lake city during the summer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calamity-jane/i-left-montana-in-spring-of-1866-for-utah-arriving-at-salt-lake-city/) [Calamity Jane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calamity-jane/) [Browse all 262 Arriving quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arriving/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Imagine 1050 blind persons each with a scrambled Rubik's cube, and try to conceive of the chance of them all simultaneously arriving at the solved form. You then have a chance of arriving by random shuffling, of just one of the many biopolymers on which life depends. 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