The Hand you are Dealt in Poker and in Life

I was almost going to name this post "Just One of the Many Philosophical Questions I have been Pondering for Years." I also want to point out that just the other day, in a prior post, I mentioned that I was a little hesitant about my decision to go back to graduate school for Philosophy. Irony?

If you have ever played Poker, then you know that in Texas Hold 'Em, the best starting hand you can get dealt is Pocket Aces. If you get dealt AA, you are definitely ahead of anybody else pre-flop. Exact probabilities change as it also depends on number of players and your position but generally speaking, you are ahead of the other players at this point. Though getting Pocket Aces does not guarantee that you will win, it sure does stack the odds in your favor.

That's kind of similar to, well, the hand you are dealt in life. Some people are born dealt Pocket Aces. Of course, how they choose to play their Pocket Aces, is up to them. On the other hand, other people are born with the equivalent of 3 5 Offsuit. A quite unfavorable hand.

It's always struck me as kind of odd, weird, or even dare I say, unfair that much of our luck in life from the outset, is derived from and dependent on factors that out of our control. That really, truly occur prior to our being born = we clearly had no input over our genetics and family history upon our arrival into this world, for example.

And to say that people create their own circumstances, which they do, and that often times things have a way of working out, which happens more often than not, still does not seem to be comprehensive, or inclusive, justify, or encapsulate enough of the mere fact that you had no control or responsibility for the outcome of your general make-up and being (nature) or initial environments (nurture), which is really quite important to who you are, who you become, and who you can become, and YET so much of your LIFE depends on those very circumstances.

Conclusion: Life is unfair because though you may have been dealt a better hand (better genetics, better family circumstances) you did not do anything to deserve this and vice versa for being dealt a bad hand. Unless of course, you believe that earned it in a previous life or something like that.