Causality
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DATo
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- Joined: 31 Dec 2011, 07:54
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Causality
Causality
by
DATo
causality (kô- ZAL- eh - tee)
noun
1 the relationship between cause and effect.
2 the principle that everything has a cause.
At the far end of a pool table a collection of brightly colored balls are set in a precise, triangular arrangement. A gentleman stands at the opposite end of the table and before him on the dark green felt with which the table is covered rests a single white ball. In his hand he holds a long stick with a small pad affixed to its tip.
In a factory in Seoul, Korea, Kim Tong-heyon was at work assembling alarm clocks. Kim had assembled many different devices in his long career with his employer. He especially enjoyed the six months he had spent assembling bread toasters. The toasters were easy to assemble and he could quickly fill his daily quota, but he was smart enough to take his time. He learned long ago that filling one’s quota too soon only resulted in getting the quota raised. Alarm clocks, he determined, were far harder to assemble. There were many small components which had to be painstakingly put in place and secured with tiny screws. He had always been curious to know where all the devices he had assembled during his long career had eventually gone, for they were shipped for sale to all points of the globe.
Today Kim was distracted for he had argued with his wife the night before. Kim’s wife had been informed by her sister, who worked for a department store, that very expensive window curtains of impeccable quality would be going on sale where she worked, the very next morning, at a fifty percent reduction to the regular price. It was certain that the best patterns would be snatched up immediately as soon as the sale was announced over the store’s loudspeakers. By knowing of the sale in advance she had hoped to give her sister an edge which would place her sister in the housewares department when the sale was announced. When Kim’s wife had declared her intention of buying the curtains to her husband as they were seated at the dinner table he became very angry. Did his wife not know that there were far more important expenditures which required attention than her sudden, frivolous penchant for curtains? KIm was holding a partially assembled alarm clock in his hand. He had inserted the screw which held the alarm activation lever and had only partially tightened the screw - one turn - when it occurred to him that he should have reminded his wife of the new coat and shoes she had purchased only the week before. Why had he not thought of that during their argument? He placed the alarm clock back on the table in frustration - he had not completed the tightening of the screw.
If the gentleman were to strike the white ball with the tip of the stick in a specific manner, and with great force, in the direction of the mass of balls at the other end of the table, the white ball could be made to roll with great speed and energy, to strike the other balls at the far end of the table.
In Indianapolis, Indiana, a year and seven months later, twenty-two year old Terry Halper dreamed that he was painting the front porch of his newly acquired, fix-er-up home. His pretty, young wife of fifteen months was bringing him lemonade in a large pitcher. In his dream Terry dutifully filled the paint bucket with lemonade and began to paint where he had left off. "Wait," he thought, "this cannot be. I shouldn’t be painting the porch with lemonade." This shocking manifestation of logic caused Terry to become somewhat alert. He was aware that it was night, that he was in bed, and that there was great likelihood that he could be dripping paint on the sheets and blankets of the bed. He felt for the paintbrush but it was gone. As he became more alert he realized that he had been dreaming and wondered what time it was. Would he be able to get more sleep or was the alarm about to go off, as it often did, just after he woke up? Terry turned his head to the night stand next to the bed to check the time which was illuminated by a small light bulb located within the clock. "Holy Jesus!" Terry thought, "It should have gone off a half-hour ago!" Terry was now immediately awake.
There would be no coffee, no shower, no toasted bagel. Terry would have to move smartly if he were to be able to clock in at work on time. The entire crew would be straggling in right about now and he had still to drive the twenty minutes to the machine shed. His crew was about to begin the digging of a new storm sewer for a subdivision being constructed on West Ralson Road. They weren’t going to get far without him because his job was to transport and operate the enormous backhoe necessary for the excavation. Terry hurriedly kissed his wife’s forehead, careful not to wake her and fairly ran out the back door. As he approached his pickup truck he noticed that the front tire was flat. He had known that the air pressure was low for a couple of days. Why hadn’t he topped it off? He repressed an urgent impulse to yell out loud. There wasn’t time for that. He ran back inside and took the keys to his wife’s Chevy Cobalt. He didn’t have time to write a note. She would see the truck in the driveway when she woke up as well as the flat tire and know what had happened.
The energy of the white ball will be absorbed by the first ball which it encounters in its flight across the table and then the energy would be translated to the other balls in the grouping. This would send the collection of colored balls flying, much like a chain reaction, in many different directions. Some balls will strike other balls as well as the edges of the table and bounce in new directions. Some will fall into the holes arranged along the periphery of the table.
Kim Tong-heyon’s sister-in-law heard shouting as she approached Aisle 9 of the department store. A mother was scolding her six year old child for opening and spilling the contents of a bottle of bubble-blowing liquid in the toy section. Kim’s sister-in-law approached, smiled, and told the mother not to worry about it. Things like this often happened in the toy section. Children are always overly active when around so many toys. She then walked to the back of the store to get a mop intending to clean up the mess. As she passed the manager’s office she heard him say on the telephone, "The new curtains from India will be arriving today and I need to move our present stock to make room for them. I am going to discount the current display by fifty percent tomorrow morning. That should empty the shelves quickly."
If one knew in advance every variable at work in this event - the force with which the white ball was struck by the stick; the friction imposed by the felt the white ball was rolling on; the point on the surface of the white ball which was struck .... but no, we must probe further, we must include every possible variable ... the barometric pressure of the atmosphere in the room; the speed of rotation as well as the magnetic pull of the earth at the specific point in space at which the pool table rests; the temperature and humidity in the room when the white ball was struck; and virtually everything which could possibly affect the result - one would be able to predict in advance, and with categorical certainty, the exact position at which every ball would come to rest.
Terry Halper was making good time. He knew he would arrive at work later than normal but with enough time to clock in and even with perhaps a few minutes to spare. He hated the confined atmosphere of his wife’s car for he was used to driving his own spacious and stalwart Ford F-250 pickup truck. He smiled and tried to invent rebuttals in advance for the ribbing he was surely going to receive from his coworkers when he arrived in the sissy, girlie-car. On any other day he would have entered the intersection at about 5:40 AM but today he was entering it at 6:15 AM. Terry laughed aloud as the final thought of his life was born, "With your beer guts you wouldn’t be able to even fit behind the wheel of this car." Terry Halper entered an intersection a half hour late, long enough for the machinations of fate to decree that the driver of a speeding car approaching from his left would make the erroneous calculation that he could survive running a red light. The small car crumpled under the enormous impact like cardboard.
"Your home is so beautifully decorated. The curtains are simply perfect for this room."
"You cannot believe the fight I had to endure with my husband last year when I bought these curtains."
"Well, for once I can understand why a man would be so upset. They must have cost your husband a small fortune."
Kim’s wife leaned closer to her guest as she poured the tea and comically whispered, as if anyone could overhear, "You wouldn’t believe how little was the cost."
A child spilled a bottle of bubble blowing liquid.
The white ball, having completed its task, slowly comes to rest.
by
DATo
causality (kô- ZAL- eh - tee)
noun
1 the relationship between cause and effect.
2 the principle that everything has a cause.
At the far end of a pool table a collection of brightly colored balls are set in a precise, triangular arrangement. A gentleman stands at the opposite end of the table and before him on the dark green felt with which the table is covered rests a single white ball. In his hand he holds a long stick with a small pad affixed to its tip.
In a factory in Seoul, Korea, Kim Tong-heyon was at work assembling alarm clocks. Kim had assembled many different devices in his long career with his employer. He especially enjoyed the six months he had spent assembling bread toasters. The toasters were easy to assemble and he could quickly fill his daily quota, but he was smart enough to take his time. He learned long ago that filling one’s quota too soon only resulted in getting the quota raised. Alarm clocks, he determined, were far harder to assemble. There were many small components which had to be painstakingly put in place and secured with tiny screws. He had always been curious to know where all the devices he had assembled during his long career had eventually gone, for they were shipped for sale to all points of the globe.
Today Kim was distracted for he had argued with his wife the night before. Kim’s wife had been informed by her sister, who worked for a department store, that very expensive window curtains of impeccable quality would be going on sale where she worked, the very next morning, at a fifty percent reduction to the regular price. It was certain that the best patterns would be snatched up immediately as soon as the sale was announced over the store’s loudspeakers. By knowing of the sale in advance she had hoped to give her sister an edge which would place her sister in the housewares department when the sale was announced. When Kim’s wife had declared her intention of buying the curtains to her husband as they were seated at the dinner table he became very angry. Did his wife not know that there were far more important expenditures which required attention than her sudden, frivolous penchant for curtains? KIm was holding a partially assembled alarm clock in his hand. He had inserted the screw which held the alarm activation lever and had only partially tightened the screw - one turn - when it occurred to him that he should have reminded his wife of the new coat and shoes she had purchased only the week before. Why had he not thought of that during their argument? He placed the alarm clock back on the table in frustration - he had not completed the tightening of the screw.
If the gentleman were to strike the white ball with the tip of the stick in a specific manner, and with great force, in the direction of the mass of balls at the other end of the table, the white ball could be made to roll with great speed and energy, to strike the other balls at the far end of the table.
In Indianapolis, Indiana, a year and seven months later, twenty-two year old Terry Halper dreamed that he was painting the front porch of his newly acquired, fix-er-up home. His pretty, young wife of fifteen months was bringing him lemonade in a large pitcher. In his dream Terry dutifully filled the paint bucket with lemonade and began to paint where he had left off. "Wait," he thought, "this cannot be. I shouldn’t be painting the porch with lemonade." This shocking manifestation of logic caused Terry to become somewhat alert. He was aware that it was night, that he was in bed, and that there was great likelihood that he could be dripping paint on the sheets and blankets of the bed. He felt for the paintbrush but it was gone. As he became more alert he realized that he had been dreaming and wondered what time it was. Would he be able to get more sleep or was the alarm about to go off, as it often did, just after he woke up? Terry turned his head to the night stand next to the bed to check the time which was illuminated by a small light bulb located within the clock. "Holy Jesus!" Terry thought, "It should have gone off a half-hour ago!" Terry was now immediately awake.
There would be no coffee, no shower, no toasted bagel. Terry would have to move smartly if he were to be able to clock in at work on time. The entire crew would be straggling in right about now and he had still to drive the twenty minutes to the machine shed. His crew was about to begin the digging of a new storm sewer for a subdivision being constructed on West Ralson Road. They weren’t going to get far without him because his job was to transport and operate the enormous backhoe necessary for the excavation. Terry hurriedly kissed his wife’s forehead, careful not to wake her and fairly ran out the back door. As he approached his pickup truck he noticed that the front tire was flat. He had known that the air pressure was low for a couple of days. Why hadn’t he topped it off? He repressed an urgent impulse to yell out loud. There wasn’t time for that. He ran back inside and took the keys to his wife’s Chevy Cobalt. He didn’t have time to write a note. She would see the truck in the driveway when she woke up as well as the flat tire and know what had happened.
The energy of the white ball will be absorbed by the first ball which it encounters in its flight across the table and then the energy would be translated to the other balls in the grouping. This would send the collection of colored balls flying, much like a chain reaction, in many different directions. Some balls will strike other balls as well as the edges of the table and bounce in new directions. Some will fall into the holes arranged along the periphery of the table.
Kim Tong-heyon’s sister-in-law heard shouting as she approached Aisle 9 of the department store. A mother was scolding her six year old child for opening and spilling the contents of a bottle of bubble-blowing liquid in the toy section. Kim’s sister-in-law approached, smiled, and told the mother not to worry about it. Things like this often happened in the toy section. Children are always overly active when around so many toys. She then walked to the back of the store to get a mop intending to clean up the mess. As she passed the manager’s office she heard him say on the telephone, "The new curtains from India will be arriving today and I need to move our present stock to make room for them. I am going to discount the current display by fifty percent tomorrow morning. That should empty the shelves quickly."
If one knew in advance every variable at work in this event - the force with which the white ball was struck by the stick; the friction imposed by the felt the white ball was rolling on; the point on the surface of the white ball which was struck .... but no, we must probe further, we must include every possible variable ... the barometric pressure of the atmosphere in the room; the speed of rotation as well as the magnetic pull of the earth at the specific point in space at which the pool table rests; the temperature and humidity in the room when the white ball was struck; and virtually everything which could possibly affect the result - one would be able to predict in advance, and with categorical certainty, the exact position at which every ball would come to rest.
Terry Halper was making good time. He knew he would arrive at work later than normal but with enough time to clock in and even with perhaps a few minutes to spare. He hated the confined atmosphere of his wife’s car for he was used to driving his own spacious and stalwart Ford F-250 pickup truck. He smiled and tried to invent rebuttals in advance for the ribbing he was surely going to receive from his coworkers when he arrived in the sissy, girlie-car. On any other day he would have entered the intersection at about 5:40 AM but today he was entering it at 6:15 AM. Terry laughed aloud as the final thought of his life was born, "With your beer guts you wouldn’t be able to even fit behind the wheel of this car." Terry Halper entered an intersection a half hour late, long enough for the machinations of fate to decree that the driver of a speeding car approaching from his left would make the erroneous calculation that he could survive running a red light. The small car crumpled under the enormous impact like cardboard.
"Your home is so beautifully decorated. The curtains are simply perfect for this room."
"You cannot believe the fight I had to endure with my husband last year when I bought these curtains."
"Well, for once I can understand why a man would be so upset. They must have cost your husband a small fortune."
Kim’s wife leaned closer to her guest as she poured the tea and comically whispered, as if anyone could overhear, "You wouldn’t believe how little was the cost."
A child spilled a bottle of bubble blowing liquid.
The white ball, having completed its task, slowly comes to rest.
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
― Steven Wright
-
moderntimes
- Posts: 2249
- Joined: 15 Mar 2014, 13:03
- Favorite Book: Ulysses by James Joyce
- Currently Reading: Grendel by John Gardner
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Fascinating premise, good story.
We know of course that due to the Uncertainty Principle, billiard ball actions are actually unknown, but on the macro level, quantum mechanics don't enter the picture. You could also state the friction component of the leather cue tip, too.
I can see the fine interaction of the elements of the story, and how they fit together. What you might do is to add a 3rd circumstance to the picture --- mmm... something about the tire valve stem being faulty and leaking air?
Of course you're also introducing the somewhat anachronistic element of a mechanical alarm clock -- how many people still have those and use them? It's evident that the story is modern however, with the car's brand name. You might put the clock assembly as soldering connection wires to the motherboard and set it into China instead? I really don't know. Your choice.
I might also eliminate the actual brand name of the car being crushed, and just label it a teeny compact -- if your story were ever commercially published, the legal vetting editors would likely ask you change it anyway. Listing a specific brand name to a crushable car is unwise, from what I've learned in my time working for a newspaper. Sadly that's the way our litigious society acts.
But these are nitpicks, and I'm absolutely not trying to impugn your story at all. I just wanted to point out a few minor items which you might consider. Most important would maybe be adding a 3rd element of chance, like the defective valve stem or something else. This makes the "mystical" triad of unknown elements.
I like the introduction of the two families and the humanity of their description -- you're creating "real" people and not cardboard cutouts. This is essential to a writer's ability to create interest in the story and this is well done.
You also vary the rhythm, by describing the pool game in clinical, scientific terms, and the main story in everyday language and common English. This intensifies the contrasting elements of the narrative.
Very good story, thanks for sharing. Keep us advised on whether you end up selling it. Are you writing an anthology?
We know of course that due to the Uncertainty Principle, billiard ball actions are actually unknown, but on the macro level, quantum mechanics don't enter the picture. You could also state the friction component of the leather cue tip, too.
I can see the fine interaction of the elements of the story, and how they fit together. What you might do is to add a 3rd circumstance to the picture --- mmm... something about the tire valve stem being faulty and leaking air?
Of course you're also introducing the somewhat anachronistic element of a mechanical alarm clock -- how many people still have those and use them? It's evident that the story is modern however, with the car's brand name. You might put the clock assembly as soldering connection wires to the motherboard and set it into China instead? I really don't know. Your choice.
I might also eliminate the actual brand name of the car being crushed, and just label it a teeny compact -- if your story were ever commercially published, the legal vetting editors would likely ask you change it anyway. Listing a specific brand name to a crushable car is unwise, from what I've learned in my time working for a newspaper. Sadly that's the way our litigious society acts.
But these are nitpicks, and I'm absolutely not trying to impugn your story at all. I just wanted to point out a few minor items which you might consider. Most important would maybe be adding a 3rd element of chance, like the defective valve stem or something else. This makes the "mystical" triad of unknown elements.
I like the introduction of the two families and the humanity of their description -- you're creating "real" people and not cardboard cutouts. This is essential to a writer's ability to create interest in the story and this is well done.
You also vary the rhythm, by describing the pool game in clinical, scientific terms, and the main story in everyday language and common English. This intensifies the contrasting elements of the narrative.
Very good story, thanks for sharing. Keep us advised on whether you end up selling it. Are you writing an anthology?
"Ineluctable modality of the visible..."
-
DATo
- Previous Member of the Month
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- Joined: 31 Dec 2011, 07:54
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Greetings moderntimes,
Many thanks for your comments and suggestions. I particularly liked the warning about possible litigation. I suppose I just figured that the advertising money I would get for the Ford F-250 would offset the court's award for defamation of the Chevy Cobalt *LOL*
I mentioned in my comment to your contribution of First Three Chapters that I didn't think it was essential for an author to try to hook his readers at the very beginning of a story. I tend to concentrate on hooking the reader at the end. I have a lot of weird habits like that *LOL*. Perhaps this is why I am addicted to the practice of ending my short stories with twists. I am also very fond of reading stories which include unique "devices". Combining both of these ideas I chose to bracket, or bookend, the story at the very end with the first act which began the series of events of the human story - spilling the bubble blowing solution - with the final act of the pool ball story. The image of the "white ball" slowly coming to a stop also has the effect of of providing a visual sense of the ending of the story. Well ... that was the intention anyway. Don't know if it actually works when people read it.
The thing about people like Heisenberg and Schrodinger is that their theories lack all sense of practicality. For instance, it is a little known fact that while Schrodinger was deliberating upon whether or not the poison worked the cat died of suffocation. [8- o
Many thanks for your comments and suggestions. I particularly liked the warning about possible litigation. I suppose I just figured that the advertising money I would get for the Ford F-250 would offset the court's award for defamation of the Chevy Cobalt *LOL*
I mentioned in my comment to your contribution of First Three Chapters that I didn't think it was essential for an author to try to hook his readers at the very beginning of a story. I tend to concentrate on hooking the reader at the end. I have a lot of weird habits like that *LOL*. Perhaps this is why I am addicted to the practice of ending my short stories with twists. I am also very fond of reading stories which include unique "devices". Combining both of these ideas I chose to bracket, or bookend, the story at the very end with the first act which began the series of events of the human story - spilling the bubble blowing solution - with the final act of the pool ball story. The image of the "white ball" slowly coming to a stop also has the effect of of providing a visual sense of the ending of the story. Well ... that was the intention anyway. Don't know if it actually works when people read it.
The thing about people like Heisenberg and Schrodinger is that their theories lack all sense of practicality. For instance, it is a little known fact that while Schrodinger was deliberating upon whether or not the poison worked the cat died of suffocation. [8- o
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
― Steven Wright
-
moderntimes
- Posts: 2249
- Joined: 15 Mar 2014, 13:03
- Favorite Book: Ulysses by James Joyce
- Currently Reading: Grendel by John Gardner
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First of all, I really liked the cue ball slowly coming to rest. It absolutely did confer an sense of finality to the story. The accident might be slightly ramped up by the man's small car being broadsided by a semi driver who's hopped on uppers and then dozes off thru the red light, going 60mph.
Your story is excellent. And the final twist or surprise ending is of course a fine tradition for short stories, back to O Henry and others. You got the ending right, too. By this I mean that the ending was NOT a "deus ex machina" goofy and non-sensible ending, but worked within the flow of the story line. Surprise endings are fine if they are coherent within the texture of the story as a whole and aren't a total "trick" which betrays the previous story line and theme. Yours doesn't do this and therefore it passes the acid test with flying colors.
Regarding Schroedinger, I've read a lot about his work and others, Heisenberg, etc. Have a strong science background, I've read many books on quantum physics, cosmology, evolution of our universe, and various theories and such. I've even been able to decipher Einstein's equations and marvel at their simplicity. The idea that time is not a constant is a true and verifiable fact.
As you may know, Schroedinger was chagrined about his cat being so popular, and often wished he'd never invented the damn thing. His original intent was to show the inconsistencies in the theory of causality and he ended up making it even more established. Myself, I'm less bothered about that damn cat than I am the 2-slit experiment. This tends to bother me a bit. That, and the common statement that the Moon does not exist unless you're looking at it. But the world of quantum theory is often lost to me. I'm like the person in Plato's cave allegory, playing at shadows.
Those here who are shaking their heads at our chatting about Schroedinger's Cat might be advised to read a couple of books by the terrific British science author John Gribbin. Just about anything he writes is excellent, but his two essential books on quantum theory are "In Search of Schroedinger's Cat" and "In Search of Schroedinger's Kittens." All of Gribbin's books are very readable to any modestly educated and sharp person, strong science background not required.
Your story is excellent. And the final twist or surprise ending is of course a fine tradition for short stories, back to O Henry and others. You got the ending right, too. By this I mean that the ending was NOT a "deus ex machina" goofy and non-sensible ending, but worked within the flow of the story line. Surprise endings are fine if they are coherent within the texture of the story as a whole and aren't a total "trick" which betrays the previous story line and theme. Yours doesn't do this and therefore it passes the acid test with flying colors.
Regarding Schroedinger, I've read a lot about his work and others, Heisenberg, etc. Have a strong science background, I've read many books on quantum physics, cosmology, evolution of our universe, and various theories and such. I've even been able to decipher Einstein's equations and marvel at their simplicity. The idea that time is not a constant is a true and verifiable fact.
As you may know, Schroedinger was chagrined about his cat being so popular, and often wished he'd never invented the damn thing. His original intent was to show the inconsistencies in the theory of causality and he ended up making it even more established. Myself, I'm less bothered about that damn cat than I am the 2-slit experiment. This tends to bother me a bit. That, and the common statement that the Moon does not exist unless you're looking at it. But the world of quantum theory is often lost to me. I'm like the person in Plato's cave allegory, playing at shadows.
Those here who are shaking their heads at our chatting about Schroedinger's Cat might be advised to read a couple of books by the terrific British science author John Gribbin. Just about anything he writes is excellent, but his two essential books on quantum theory are "In Search of Schroedinger's Cat" and "In Search of Schroedinger's Kittens." All of Gribbin's books are very readable to any modestly educated and sharp person, strong science background not required.
"Ineluctable modality of the visible..."
-
DATo
- Previous Member of the Month
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- Joined: 31 Dec 2011, 07:54
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Per your previous post : I have no plans to either sell this story or to publish an anthology. As I have mentioned in other discussions we've both participated in I write for my own enjoyment as a hobby and when anyone expresses their appreciation for anything I've written that is tantamount to receiving a royalty payment from a publisher. So I thank you most sincerely for your kind words regarding this story. Coming from a published author your accolade carries weight, validity and authenticity.
The two-slit experiment is downright spooky. I am surprised to learn that you have a scientific background. My own work, for the last forty years, has been centered in design and development of scientific research equipment and I teach a class to physics graduate students in this practice. Many interesting projects over the years - everything from parapsychology, to space science, to NMR research, to materials science, to medical hardware to ultrasound instrument development. Just completed the design and construction of a set of apparatus which will investigate an anomaly in ultrasonics which has been overlooked by researchers since the beginning of ultrasonic studies. Had something which I helped design and fabricate lofted into outer space where it remained for ten years and then a portion of that apparatus back in my hand when the satellite was returned by the Shuttle. That was quite an experience.
One of the things I have noticed over the years is that people like me, with technical backgrounds, are often lured to the arts and people like lawyers, doctors, accountants tend to veer to my type of work as a hobby. I suppose we all tend toward doing things in our nonprofessional lives to escape what becomes over time the drudgery of our daily professional responsibilities.
The two-slit experiment is downright spooky. I am surprised to learn that you have a scientific background. My own work, for the last forty years, has been centered in design and development of scientific research equipment and I teach a class to physics graduate students in this practice. Many interesting projects over the years - everything from parapsychology, to space science, to NMR research, to materials science, to medical hardware to ultrasound instrument development. Just completed the design and construction of a set of apparatus which will investigate an anomaly in ultrasonics which has been overlooked by researchers since the beginning of ultrasonic studies. Had something which I helped design and fabricate lofted into outer space where it remained for ten years and then a portion of that apparatus back in my hand when the satellite was returned by the Shuttle. That was quite an experience.
One of the things I have noticed over the years is that people like me, with technical backgrounds, are often lured to the arts and people like lawyers, doctors, accountants tend to veer to my type of work as a hobby. I suppose we all tend toward doing things in our nonprofessional lives to escape what becomes over time the drudgery of our daily professional responsibilities.
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
― Steven Wright
-
moderntimes
- Posts: 2249
- Joined: 15 Mar 2014, 13:03
- Favorite Book: Ulysses by James Joyce
- Currently Reading: Grendel by John Gardner
- Bookshelf Size: 0
Thanks for the compliment but I'm no biggie, just got lucky. You may write as a hobby and for self entertainment but you've got some excellent skills here and you could easily sell stories like "Causality" to magazines, online or print. I recommend you reconsider but that's your choice.
I'm blessed (cursed) with that ol' dual brain hemisphere mentality (and of course the left/right brain thing isn't nearly as clearcut as common folk belief tells us). I started off pre-med with aspirations to be a pathologist, migrated into chemistry w. math & bio minors, and then being a wastrel student, took a 2nd major in Eng lit, specializing in James Joyce. Worked for years in polymer physics research for a big oil firm, transitioned into computer programming (Fortran and later C++) and then wrote high-level analytical software which predicted polymer behavior. Went to work for a structural engineering firm and wrote programs which analyzed & designed high-rise building structures (both steel & concrete) such as hotels, stadiums, skyscrapers, etc. Then did computer analysis for printed circuit & computer chip design (a black art, really), was then product manager for an international engineering design software & hardware firm which sold all over the world, knew Unix and such very well. Finally transitioned into offshore engineering design, programmed and managed products for offshore exploration (drilling rigs, drill ships, etc). Finished my career as a consultant for offshore exploration & production engineering specifications, document analysis & tech documentation management. Whew.
But also worked for a newspaper part time as a stringer, wrote short stories and essays and articles, sold most of them, always kept my hand in the literary side of life too. Voracious reader in both literature, science, technology, plus military history and my particular interest in Imperial Roman history. Arts too-- I'm a classically trained bass-baritone, sang opera (the real thing, sets, costumes, makeup, singing in Italian, German, French, etc) as well as chorales. Double whew.
I agree therefore, finding many people formally educated and working in science, technology, as well in other "suit & tie" professions who find a second life in the arts.
I owe my cross-pollenization lifestyle to my parents, who never tried to push me into a particular thing but instead just buoyed my love for reading and learning.
I think that most any fairly bright person is capable of the same sort of thing. People often pigeonhole themselves due to familial and corporate mentality and never think it's possible to branch out. As you get older, it can become more evident that these things are actually possible, which is why we see so many middle-age people either frustrated, or changing careers. I think that a focus on a broad education helps young people in exploring all sorts of options for career and lifestyle, and that a good liberal arts (with bilateral interest in science) is a plus.
Anyway... I agree that the 2-slit phenomenon is skeery and may give you headaches. I tend to agree philosophically with Einstein, that there's some underlying principle which we're still missing. The idea that an experiment doesn't actually have results unless it's being observed is somehow illogical and that there's in fact some coherent and recognizable underlying truth which everyone has yet missed. But I sure as hell don't know what it would be.
I'm blessed (cursed) with that ol' dual brain hemisphere mentality (and of course the left/right brain thing isn't nearly as clearcut as common folk belief tells us). I started off pre-med with aspirations to be a pathologist, migrated into chemistry w. math & bio minors, and then being a wastrel student, took a 2nd major in Eng lit, specializing in James Joyce. Worked for years in polymer physics research for a big oil firm, transitioned into computer programming (Fortran and later C++) and then wrote high-level analytical software which predicted polymer behavior. Went to work for a structural engineering firm and wrote programs which analyzed & designed high-rise building structures (both steel & concrete) such as hotels, stadiums, skyscrapers, etc. Then did computer analysis for printed circuit & computer chip design (a black art, really), was then product manager for an international engineering design software & hardware firm which sold all over the world, knew Unix and such very well. Finally transitioned into offshore engineering design, programmed and managed products for offshore exploration (drilling rigs, drill ships, etc). Finished my career as a consultant for offshore exploration & production engineering specifications, document analysis & tech documentation management. Whew.
But also worked for a newspaper part time as a stringer, wrote short stories and essays and articles, sold most of them, always kept my hand in the literary side of life too. Voracious reader in both literature, science, technology, plus military history and my particular interest in Imperial Roman history. Arts too-- I'm a classically trained bass-baritone, sang opera (the real thing, sets, costumes, makeup, singing in Italian, German, French, etc) as well as chorales. Double whew.
I agree therefore, finding many people formally educated and working in science, technology, as well in other "suit & tie" professions who find a second life in the arts.
I owe my cross-pollenization lifestyle to my parents, who never tried to push me into a particular thing but instead just buoyed my love for reading and learning.
I think that most any fairly bright person is capable of the same sort of thing. People often pigeonhole themselves due to familial and corporate mentality and never think it's possible to branch out. As you get older, it can become more evident that these things are actually possible, which is why we see so many middle-age people either frustrated, or changing careers. I think that a focus on a broad education helps young people in exploring all sorts of options for career and lifestyle, and that a good liberal arts (with bilateral interest in science) is a plus.
Anyway... I agree that the 2-slit phenomenon is skeery and may give you headaches. I tend to agree philosophically with Einstein, that there's some underlying principle which we're still missing. The idea that an experiment doesn't actually have results unless it's being observed is somehow illogical and that there's in fact some coherent and recognizable underlying truth which everyone has yet missed. But I sure as hell don't know what it would be.
"Ineluctable modality of the visible..."
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DATo
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You've had an amazing life. Maybe you should think about an autobiography *L*
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
― Steven Wright
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moderntimes
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Thanks, Dat, I cleverly omitted some of the more egregious stuff, like the 60s and some turbulent times in my life. Interesting is just one slide of it.
One interesting teeny item... when I worked with polymer physics research, we were studying how polyethylene behaves during injection molding, so as to better discover how the internal molecular structure of the plastic governs how it flows when molten. This of course helps with learning how to design the injection process to lessen waste and improve the product. Turns out it's dependent upon the number and length and composition of the side-branches. As you may know, polyethylene is essentially a long chain of carbon atoms strung together with the "ethylene" group as the side chains (ethylene is a cluster of one carbon atom and three hydrogens) so these little side branches on the long chain of the polymer's principal chain cause the plastic to flow more slowly or quickly or evenly, etc. And using calculus with the chain lengths and the side branching lengths statistically, this behavior can be predicted based on the first, second, and third derivatives of the chain length vs side links ratios. I won't get into HOW we know the number and composition of side chains because that goes deep into molecular physics.
So some of my programming involved the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd order derivatives of polymer molecular chains.
Later when I started programming for the structural engineers, when predicting the behavior of huge steel beams and columns (beams are horizontal, columns vertical), their behavior was related to the ratios of their length vs their flange width and breadth, and the analysis of this predicted behavior used EXACTLY the same mathematical 1st, 2nd, and 3rd order derivatives (via calculus) and the EXACT same formulas which I used to analyze submicroscopic polymer chains.
People who don't appreciate what calculus is think it's some high-blown thing that a forgetful professor scribbles on his chalkboard while lecturing to bored students. In fact, calculus describes the actual real world and how objects behave in this very real existence. We forget that calculus was INVENTED by Newton when asked by his astronomer pals to help analyze the orbits of the planets. It had previously been thought their orbits were circular around the Sun but that wouldn't work -- in a pure circular orbit the planets would eventually crash into the Sun or go whizzing off into space (scientists had for centuries known that the solar system was solar-centric). So Newton invented calculus to analyze that their orbits were parabolic. Remember that calculus is used to analyze and describe any non-constant movement. A pure circular or straight-line movement only needs Euclidean geometry to calculate, but any non-circular curve, like a parabola (2nd order curve) or a hyperbola (3rd order curve) requires calculus to know the details. Keen.
Another quicker story about why dotting the I and crossing the T is essential in technology... When I was doing consulting for the offshore oil exploration and production field, basically a high-level tech writer, we came across a problem due to a prior error made before our firm took the consultancy contract... On the seabed floor, down into what's called "deepwater" in the biz (greater than 10,000 water depth not including the miles-deep drill path after starting at a great depth already), after an oil or gas bed is discovered, they put what's called a "Christmas Tree" onto the seabed. This is a big ugly chrome steel bunch of valves and pipes which is maybe 15-20 feet square. You see, they don't find just one source of oil or gas. When they drill, the bit is able to be turned left, right, up and down during the drilling, and so beneath the drill rig or drill ship, there are maybe a dozen drillings all emanating from one spot on the seabed but then branching out in all directions under the seabed to the various pockets of oil or gas. These terminate in this Christmas Tree after drilling is finished,and all these sources are interconnected in this CT rig, and then the oil or gas is sent up via flexible pipes to the surface, to tankers.
Now most folks don't know this but crude oil is very hot, toxic (filled with hydrogen sulfide and methane) and corrosive. That's the inside. Then the outside you have intense pressure (10,000 - 20,000 feet deep), cold too. So it takes a very particular grade of stainless steel to withstand this. This one particular oil firm had mistakenly used the wrong grade of stainless because of a teeny tech error in the specifications listings. This led them to have to replace each Christmas Tree with a new one. Cost? About $140 million. PER RIG.
But an autobio? Naw. I'm instead pouring all my writing energies these days into my private eye novels.
One interesting teeny item... when I worked with polymer physics research, we were studying how polyethylene behaves during injection molding, so as to better discover how the internal molecular structure of the plastic governs how it flows when molten. This of course helps with learning how to design the injection process to lessen waste and improve the product. Turns out it's dependent upon the number and length and composition of the side-branches. As you may know, polyethylene is essentially a long chain of carbon atoms strung together with the "ethylene" group as the side chains (ethylene is a cluster of one carbon atom and three hydrogens) so these little side branches on the long chain of the polymer's principal chain cause the plastic to flow more slowly or quickly or evenly, etc. And using calculus with the chain lengths and the side branching lengths statistically, this behavior can be predicted based on the first, second, and third derivatives of the chain length vs side links ratios. I won't get into HOW we know the number and composition of side chains because that goes deep into molecular physics.
So some of my programming involved the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd order derivatives of polymer molecular chains.
Later when I started programming for the structural engineers, when predicting the behavior of huge steel beams and columns (beams are horizontal, columns vertical), their behavior was related to the ratios of their length vs their flange width and breadth, and the analysis of this predicted behavior used EXACTLY the same mathematical 1st, 2nd, and 3rd order derivatives (via calculus) and the EXACT same formulas which I used to analyze submicroscopic polymer chains.
People who don't appreciate what calculus is think it's some high-blown thing that a forgetful professor scribbles on his chalkboard while lecturing to bored students. In fact, calculus describes the actual real world and how objects behave in this very real existence. We forget that calculus was INVENTED by Newton when asked by his astronomer pals to help analyze the orbits of the planets. It had previously been thought their orbits were circular around the Sun but that wouldn't work -- in a pure circular orbit the planets would eventually crash into the Sun or go whizzing off into space (scientists had for centuries known that the solar system was solar-centric). So Newton invented calculus to analyze that their orbits were parabolic. Remember that calculus is used to analyze and describe any non-constant movement. A pure circular or straight-line movement only needs Euclidean geometry to calculate, but any non-circular curve, like a parabola (2nd order curve) or a hyperbola (3rd order curve) requires calculus to know the details. Keen.
Another quicker story about why dotting the I and crossing the T is essential in technology... When I was doing consulting for the offshore oil exploration and production field, basically a high-level tech writer, we came across a problem due to a prior error made before our firm took the consultancy contract... On the seabed floor, down into what's called "deepwater" in the biz (greater than 10,000 water depth not including the miles-deep drill path after starting at a great depth already), after an oil or gas bed is discovered, they put what's called a "Christmas Tree" onto the seabed. This is a big ugly chrome steel bunch of valves and pipes which is maybe 15-20 feet square. You see, they don't find just one source of oil or gas. When they drill, the bit is able to be turned left, right, up and down during the drilling, and so beneath the drill rig or drill ship, there are maybe a dozen drillings all emanating from one spot on the seabed but then branching out in all directions under the seabed to the various pockets of oil or gas. These terminate in this Christmas Tree after drilling is finished,and all these sources are interconnected in this CT rig, and then the oil or gas is sent up via flexible pipes to the surface, to tankers.
Now most folks don't know this but crude oil is very hot, toxic (filled with hydrogen sulfide and methane) and corrosive. That's the inside. Then the outside you have intense pressure (10,000 - 20,000 feet deep), cold too. So it takes a very particular grade of stainless steel to withstand this. This one particular oil firm had mistakenly used the wrong grade of stainless because of a teeny tech error in the specifications listings. This led them to have to replace each Christmas Tree with a new one. Cost? About $140 million. PER RIG.
But an autobio? Naw. I'm instead pouring all my writing energies these days into my private eye novels.
"Ineluctable modality of the visible..."
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stanley
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Just re-read your story and enjoyed it even more with a careful reading. I liked the billiard ball device. It occurs to me that it would lend itself to television or cinematic production, as the set up and action of the billiard balls is very visual. Somehow, I saw the whole thing as a pretty good "Twilight Zone" episode, (if you remember that program from those quaint times when tv's were made of wood and wore 'rabbit ears.")
Latest Review: "Return to the Go-Go" by William Peskett
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moderntimes
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An excellent short story, true. Very publishable and our author should strongly consider a series of similar stories, of the "O Henry" type, as this story is.
"Ineluctable modality of the visible..."
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DATo
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stanley - Thanks so much for responding to my story. I'm glad you liked it. Oh yes, The Twilight Zone has always been one of my favorite TV shows. I think there were several shows in which they demonstrated the idea of causality. It is a premise sort of like time travel as it opens a lot of doors for speculative thought in areas such as paradox.
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
― Steven Wright
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moderntimes
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Twilight Zone is absolutely the finest fantasy anthology ever. The show had its superb episodes and some not so.
I thought however if I see one more episode where the protagonist is a hard-driving NYC Madison Avenue advertising exec, usually played by Shelly Berman, and he gets transported back to the supposedly idyllic era of 1906, I wanted to scream and hurl a brick thru the screen. Besides the overuse of a stereotype, I'd think, "Yeah, welcome to 1906, welcome to typhoid fever, polio, blacks treated like indentured servants, child labor in coal mines, and oh yeah, WW-1 soon to be enjoyed."
I thought however if I see one more episode where the protagonist is a hard-driving NYC Madison Avenue advertising exec, usually played by Shelly Berman, and he gets transported back to the supposedly idyllic era of 1906, I wanted to scream and hurl a brick thru the screen. Besides the overuse of a stereotype, I'd think, "Yeah, welcome to 1906, welcome to typhoid fever, polio, blacks treated like indentured servants, child labor in coal mines, and oh yeah, WW-1 soon to be enjoyed."
"Ineluctable modality of the visible..."
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pallavi garg
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Loved the story..specially loved are minor wants of common people are nicely elaborated. ..want of curtains, completing quota...along with the story, communication between dato and miderntimes also made good read...
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ct-95
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Crisp. Draws one in. Excellent!
