Liberty Lifestyle: The Death of Serendipity

Serendipity isn’t just a 2001 movie with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, and it doesn’t simply mean good luck. It refers to making a valuable or pleasant discovery while looking for something else, in other words, by accident. Some of life’s greatest discoveries and guilty little pleasures happened by accident. Today, though, we are guided through life by algorithms and artificial intelligence that thinks it knows us better than we know ourselves, providing fewer opportunities for genuine accidental discoveries. Are we witnessing the death of serendipity?

The Power of Serendipity

“It's a bizarre but wonderful feeling, to arrive dead center of a target you didn't even know you were aiming for.” ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

When we think of Serendipity, we may picture Cusack and Beckinsale sharing a pair of gloves and trying to let fate decide if they should enter into a romantic relationship. But throughout life and history, there have been some fantastic examples of the phenomenon. For instance, Alexander Fleming noticed mold contaminating one of his experiments, and Eureka, penicillin was discovered. Percy Spencer realized a chocolate bar had melted in his pocket while he worked with radar equipment, and now we have the microwave oven. 

Merriam-Webster gives credit to Horace Walpole in 1754 for coining the word serendipity. In a letter dated January 28, 1754, he wrote: “This discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word, which, as I have nothing better to tell you, I shall endeavor to explain to you.... I once read a silly fairy tale, called ‘The Three Princes of Serendip’: as their Highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of ... now do you understand Serendipity?”

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Serendipity has a lot of benefits, and not just from finding that little bookstore off the beaten path when you accidentally took a wrong turn. Because it takes people outside of their boxes, it encourages creativity and even new desires or hobbies.

“Serendipity, the happy accident of discovery, not only manifests itself in scientific discoveries and modern innovations, but also [in] our work and everyday activities,” Science Direct explained in reference to the book Accidental Information Discovery: Cultivating Serendipity in the Digital Age. “It has the potential to act as a catalyst for the acquisition of new knowledge, a jumpstart to creativity, and an energizer when we experience a slump in problem-solving.” Furthermore, “While often referred to as a ‘happy accident,’ serendipity is not entirely due to chance; we can ‘prepare our minds’ for serendipitous opportunities and need to seize them when they present themselves. Although serendipity involves an element of luck, it is more than blind luck. It cannot be controlled, but it can be influenced. It cannot be created on demand, but it can be cultivated.”

People who browse library shelves, for instance, instead of searching only for one title, wander through unfamiliar neighborhoods, or strike up conversations with strangers create more opportunities for unexpected discoveries.

Serendipity is utilized in almost every aspect of life. As mentioned before, there have been a lot of scientific discoveries made from mistakes that led to great inventions. It is so important to humans that it is even becoming its own field. Researchers are looking at making serendipity its own scientific field. A 2023 academic book titled Serendipity Science: An Emerging Field and its Methods brings together experts in various fields, including computer scientists, philosophers, psychologists, innovation experts, and business researchers to see how accidental discoveries happen and whether environments can be designed to encourage them. Yes, you read that right – designing environments to make mistakes happen.

The Lost Art of Luck and Mistakes

Artificial intelligence and technology sure make our lives easier. In fact, AI seems to have the ability to predict what we want, if a little too enthusiastically. If you click on an ad in Google or social media for a new toilet seat cover, for instance, your search results and ads will be flooded with companies trying to sell you their versions. Every time you stream a movie, listen to music, shop online, or search the internet, algorithms collect information about your preferences. In fact, it is their job to predict what you will most likely click next, all in the name of making your life faster and more convenient.

However, predictions and serendipity don’t usually work well together. Researchers have found that recommendation systems, as those AI algorithms are called, become so focused on accuracy that they repeatedly suggest content similar to what users have already bought or enjoyed – remember the toilet seat covers – instead of introducing new ideas.

A paper published in Philosophy & Technology explains that recommendation systems generally rely on previous behavior to predict future preferences. While this improves relevance, it can also create "homogeneous recommendations" and what researchers describe as an "overspecialization problem," where users continually receive more of the same types of books, movies, music, or products instead of encountering something unexpected.

So, is serendipity dying a slow death? For certain, the opportunity to fall into surprising luck has changed. GPS programs don’t send you on scenic routes to make new discoveries; they find the quickest, shortest route to your destination. But serendipity represents something algorithms can’t fully predict: the freedom to become someone different tomorrow than you were yesterday. That piece of American liberty is not easy to replace.