一天就像一生。您开始做一件事，但最终做了其他事情，计划跑步，但永远不会到达那里。……在您的生活结束时，整个生存也具有相同的随意质量。您的一生的形状与一天相同。格兰特说，我想这是看待事物的一种方法。不，马尔科姆说。这是看事物的唯一方法。至少，唯一的现实途径。您会看到，相同性的分形观念在其中带有递归的一个方面，这是一种重新倍增的一倍，这意味着事件是不可预测的。他们可以突然改变，而无需警告。
(A day is like a whole life. You start out doing one thing, but end up doing something else, plan to run an errand, but never get there.… And at the end of your life, your whole existence has that same haphazard quality, too. Your whole life has the same shape as a single day. I guess it's one way to look at things, Grant said. No, Malcolm said. It's the only way to look at things. At least, the only way that is true to reality. You see, the fractal idea of sameness carries within it an aspect of recursion, a kind of doubling back on itself, which means that events are unpredictable. That they can change suddenly, and without warning.)