Math is a big thing in my family. Lots of us are good at it, a few make of living of it, and had they even known that during high school algebra I truly wondered why in the world we learn this stuff (as I thought it was useless) I probably would have been disowned. But math, even simple math, is a part of our everyday lives.
Take probability theory for instance, the branch of mathematics concerned with probability, or in English, the figuring out of the likelihood something will happen. This infiltrates my life daily. For instance…..the probability that Ben will be some weird character the next time I talk to him, high; the probability that I will read about the Chicago Bears playing in the Superbowl in a matter of days, low; the probability that I will do something wrong today, high (I am both male and a husband); the probability that I would do something wrong if I were female and a wife, not enough data or brain damage on my part to make such assumptions; and the probability that it will snow and be cold in Indiana in January, high….after all it is WINTER.
But as most of you know, I, unlike much of my family, did not travel down the sciences path. I was instead in the humanities field (Religion) which means of course I have a high probability of working for you, but I digress. What I can say though, as just a general observation, is that in SOME cases one does not need to rely on math, nor all the “mathy things” like Doppler radar and elaborate algorithms to know what we know from just good old, get ready, “common sense.”
When I was a kid there was what we used to call a “weatherman” on TV, WNDU (W Notre Dame University) in fact, named Dick Addis. We would turn on the TV and he would tell us what was going to happen outside, and he actually was what they used to call “right” all the time. And this was before all this technology, (although not math as it is eternal – ask my family) and so anyone who would watch him, oh I don’t know, let’s say in January, might not be surprised to hear him say it was going to be cold and it will snow. People down here in the deep south of mid-Indiana seem quite put off at what we used to call “WINTER,” but to us followers of Dick Addis, I need to confess we are not phased.
The snowman in tonight’s picture graced our yard for a few days in late December as it snowed then. The highlight of seeing it built was Ben throwing snowballs at Steph and missing her wildly, despite the fact he was close enough to touch her and she was not dodging. (He may very well have a career with the Cubs or Indians) But it was gone in just a few days.
The snowman’s demise however tragic, indicates math. He was built, the temperature went up a bit, he melted, and he was gone. But here is the big lesson from humanities for all you mathematicians…….we can build anther, in fact many more. A melted snowman does not indicate SUMMER! Trust in Dick Addis, it is WINTER, it is cold, and there is a high probability of what we call “snow.”
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+