Serendipity, a happy confluence of circumstances. It sounds so cheerful. The glass half-full view of the world. There is a dark side to it. If everything around us is just serendipity where do we find any meaning in it. It is the ultimate emotional argument against evolution. If we're just an accident, why bother?

This is a picture of a philosopher's stone (think "Chinese Mandarin", not "Harry Potter"). The literati would keep one on their desk to remind them of the significance of randomness and disorder. Perhaps for them, randomness and disorder were a source of inspiration and innovation, necessary but something to be kept within bounds. I think we face a darker (and possibly much funnier) question: Is Harry Potter all there is?