How much are we a product of our time? 

Roald Dahl was an interesting dude. For example, the Welsh-born, Norwegian fighter pilot and children's author often wrote his decidedly off-kilter books in a brightly-colored gypsy caravan he had installed in his backyard. And you have to wonder: What would Roald Dahl be doing if he had been born in the present day? 

Sure, maybe he would have followed the same career path and become a beloved children's author all the same, but who knows: Maybe he would have worked for Pixar, or started a children's game design studio, or just lived in Portland in his gypsy caravan. 

It's almost impossible to imagine a world in which Dahl's books had never been written, but the series of historical and biographical events that led him to that place were fraught with happenstance and randomness. Did his experience crash-landing a WWI plane in the Sahara Desert play a pivotal role in his development as a children's author (and grisly, dark-humored writer of adult short stories)? 

Of course, we'll never know, but it's an interesting thought experiment. Maybe that weirdo down the street living in an old Airstream trailer is the next great creative mind. Or maybe he's just a weirdo. 

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