Practicing Precision

HS #20  2017.4.4

Practicing Precision

All of you in your fifties and older, I invite you to take a short trip with me into our past.  You young’uns, feel free to come along for the ride.

Remember elementary school? We colored with crayons and water colors – trying hard to stay within the lines. A couple grades later, we practiced writing in cursive – carefully making  bs and ks. We played games like hop-scotch, jacks, and pick up sticks. Hobbies included making model cars – requiring precise gluing and decal work. Young girls cut out doll clothes.

We learned how to multiply four digit numbers together – being careful to carry and add correctly. Subtraction and division took even more care. A mistake at any point ruined the entire answer.

In typing class we practiced correct key strokes, because a mistake required getting out a bottle of white-out fluid, dabbing it on the mistake, and blowing it dry. Too many of them, and we had to retype the page.  Shop class included drafting – drawing precise lines and letters with sharpened HB and 2H pencils.

Those of us who took computer classes in college learned the trials of submitting a stack of IBM cards to the mainframe, waiting two hours, then hoping that a single spelling or punctuation error didn’t stop the program.  If it did, we fixed the mistake, crossed our fingers, and resubmitted.  Since I was an undergraduate at the University of North Dakota, that often meant walking a half-mile across campus in 20 below temps at midnight. No fooling.

How far we have come.  The cost of making mistakes is now negligible.  Don’t know how to spell a word? Type something close and your computer will correct it. Calculators make tedious calculations unnecessary. Drafting with pencils is replaced with CAD (computer aided design). Cars parallel park themselves. We are living in the golden age.

Or are we? Without realizing it, all of that tedium built within us an appreciation of and practice in precision.  And practicing precision with our hands and heads may well have affected the character of our hearts.

Full engagement, concentration, and precision have been replaced with multitasking.  Twenty years ago, Linda Stone coined the term “continuous partial attention” (CPA) to describe the way many of us now live our lives. Instead of being fully intent and losing ourselves in an activity, we multitask – while keeping one ear listening for a cell phone to ring. Consequently, we may be losing the practice of precision and focused concentration - with predictable results.

  After falling for years, auto collision fatalities have risen 14% in the last two years. Pedestrian deaths increased 11% last year alone. (Have you noticed that cars seem to stray outside of their lanes more often?) After decades without a flaw, the recent Academy Awards debacle and Miss America snafu are celebrated examples of errors due to inattention and carelessness.

But as an educator, I’m mostly concerned with how the declination in focus and precision might be affecting character.   “Cleanliness is next to godliness” begins making sense. Since technology is here to stay, what can be done?

During my college years, I spent 15-20 hours a week in Bible studies and evangelism with Campus Crusade for Christ. Given the noble mission, the Campus Director suggested that we students apply the 80-20 principle. It posits that one generally receives 80% of the benefit of an activity in 20% of the time/cost.  E.g., exercising vigorously for 30 minutes a day gives significant health benefit, while increasing to two hours/day will give only limited additional benefit. Diminishing returns.

Thus he encouraged us to spend less time on our studies – settle for B’s in our classes, and use the remaining time for ministry.

I pondered the suggestion. I could see the economy of settling for 80% in many things. On the other hand, it seemed that one should be devoted to some pursuits with full commitment in order to achieve excellence. Since I was heading to graduate school in mathematics, I concluded that my studies required that total commitment, but that I could apply the 80-20 principle to other activities. So I cut back my time in ministry.

So in an age of CPA, multitasking, and texted sentence fragments, it might do us all well to find something – at least one thing in our lives- to do with unmitigated excellence and attention. Pursuing a passion with precision to perfection might do more than cut down on traffic mishaps, it might be good for your soul.

Appreciating the difference between global and local truths

HS #20   2017.3.7 

 Appreciating the differences between local and global truths

Recently a colleague sent me a video on the Archimedes screw. It’s essentially an auger - a screw enclosed in a tube. When the low end is placed in water, and it is turned about its axis, the water will be lifted to the top. Efficient and reliable, they are used in grain elevators and snow blowers and throughout industry to lift water, sludge and sewage. The Dutch used them to claim land from the sea.

An Archimedes screw is rather counterintuitive. As it is turned, the water is being raised by the ever-rising turning surface even as the water (locally) flows downhill. Thus the local movement (down) and the global movement (up) of the water are in opposite directions.

Key point: Local properties and global properties are not necessarily the same – in fact they are often at odds with each other.

Examples abound.  In art, M.C. Escher has an intriguing drawing of a rectangular castle with stairways along the four walls – each proceeding up to the next stairway. But after ascending each of the four stairways, the climber is back to the original position. The hiker is locally rising, but globally never advancing.

In geometry, the sphere that we live on seems locally to be a flat plane. Two roads heading north are laid out parallel to each other.  But those familiar with a globe realize that two parallel roads cannot both be pointing due north, since north-pointing roads eventually must meet at the North Pole.  Indeed, every so often the distance between northbound parallel roads needs to be lessened with a short east-west jog.

Philosophically, those roads may be an analogy for truth. Some truths seem to be contradictory (just as parallel longitudinal lines at the equator will appear to never meet), but may well join together as parts of a single universal truth just as  longitude lines meet at the poles.

Theologically, those familiar with the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible often remark that the God portrayed in the OT is quite different (more severe and less charitable) than the God-Man revealed in the NT. However, the OT God is a view over a two-thousand-year time span, whereas the NT revelation covers only three years. Just as a short segment of a winding highway road appears straight,  so also what seems to be a different nature of God, may just be a long-term versus short-term perspective.

One of the most interesting examples of the tension between local and global points of view is captured in the notion of Tragedy of the Commons.

Imagine a pasture area that optimally feeds 100 sheep – 10 sheep for each of 10 shepherds. With 100 sheep, all the grass is eaten and the nutrition is turned into wool.  If less sheep, some grass would go uneaten; if more sheep, the underfed sheep don’t produce as much wool, so the total wool output is less.

Now suppose one shepherd starts thinking, “Hmm – if I increase my herd to 20, the total output will decrease, but MY output will almost double, so I’m better off increasing my herd.  The others then follow suit.  They have all then acted in their own (local) best interest, but as a result they all lose.

Any politician who claims, “Your money is best kept in your own pocket” doesn’t understand Tragedy of the Commons. Our lives are better because we all contribute a little towards our great county parks. If we all thought locally (individually) and kept our money to ourselves, we’d all lose out.

On an international scale, if each nation acts and behaves exclusively in a “ME FIRST” way, each focusing only on its own welfare, then like the shepherds, everyone loses as the world warms and trade stalls.  Thus a less self-centered approach is not only better for others, it’s also better for oneself. Virtuous and smart. Win-win. That is why after the collapse of the USSR, George H W Bush spoke eloquently of the  “New World Order.” He realized we could all be winners if we acted cooperatively.

Indeed, we may all live better when we understand the truth of John Donne that no man is an island. Our lives are woven together, so, though counterintuitive like the Archimedes screw, taking others into account may be the best way to improve one’s own quality of life. Maybe, just maybe, like the shepherds, we all win or we all lose together.

Church Hypocrites

HS #19  2017.2.7

Church Hypocrites

Recently I found myself eagerly awaiting the Sunday morning service at my church.  I wanted to be among hypocrites.  

It had been a rough week. I had been in a couple of taxing conversations - emotions laid bare, thoughts expressed without varnish or subtlety. It was all necessary and even appropriate. But as a result, I was emotionally spent, and I realized - maybe for the first time - what a balm and uplift can be gained from a weekly church gathering.

Why the therapeutic value? Certainly the cadence of the service and the familiar setting are soothing and reassuring. Spending time being thankful (hymns), reflecting on how to be a better person (prayer of confession), being reminded of the needs of others (congregational prayer), participating in good artistry (choir and organ), connecting to past generations and the greater world (creeds), and being inspired to look and live for a cause and purpose beyond oneself (sermon), is not a bad outcome of an hour spent.

But just as important is the fact that those in attendance have dedicated themselves - by intention or habit - to being on their best behavior. "Putting on one's Sunday best" is not just an old adage about clothes. It refers more broadly to the commitment of a community of people to bringing and presenting their best selves for a period of an hour or so once a week. And this mutual sacrifice of discipline serves to inspire, edify, and energize each one in the community. 

How interesting that a common reason given for not attending church is that it is filled with hypocrites – folks who are pretending to be something they are not.  But those who wear formal or stylish clothes to church don’t intend others to assume they necessarily dress similarly at home and throughout the week. Instead, they are merely saying, "These are among my best and I want to look my best for others." Nothing wrong with that.  Similarly, it seems, there is nothing wrong with each of us making a disciplined effort to being at our finest for a brief period each week. 

When I go to the gym, those in better physical condition than I serve to motivate me to put in a strenuous workout. When I go to weekly rehearsals with the Holland Chorale, I am inspired by good musicians to improve my own vocalization and interpretation.

Church is somewhat more holistic. Instead of concentrating on a particular skill or passion, one is surrounded by others who are committed simply to becoming better people and practicing being their best selves. Rather neat.

Interestingly, those who complain of hypocrites in the church often describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious.”  Apparently they believe in a greater Being or spiritual force, but are not especially interested in gathering with others regularly to focus on that Being.

In some ways, I fully agree. Certainly the most “spiritual” times and events in my life have happened outside of the confines of a church building. Mine seem to occur while hiking on the beach, or when watching an inspiring movie. (The last fifteen minutes of  “A River Runs Through It” give me goose bumps whenever watching it.)

However, gathering regularly with others to focus on a being (real or not) that embodies love, truth and beauty seems an effective way of building those qualities within oneself. That’s why I describe myself instead as “religious but not spiritual.“  While I don’t find the evidence for the existence of a Spirtual Being to be especially strong, the value of gathering with others to contemplate virtuous living is compelling.

So even though I don’t place much confidence in the assertions of myriad unnamed people over a score of centuries who authored, transmitted, and canonized the Bible, I have little problem trusting and believing in those with whom I gather weekly.  I may doubt the veracity of long-past events recorded by people unknown, but the genuine fellowship and wholesome goodness of Holland neighbors is undeniably authentic.

How wonderful then to belong to a community of friends and neighbors who make an effort to present their best selves. This is a good habit - a life giving custom. And because of it, like the psalmist, I find myself glad to go to the house of the Lord - to gather with fellow hypocrites. 

Lessons from Fixed Points

HS #18  2017.1.3

Lessons from Fixed Points

Imagine a hillside and a big round boulder.  Place the boulder on the side of the hill and it rolls down. Position it at the very top of the hill or at the bottom of the valley and it remains in place. These are called “fixed points.” However they are quite different from each other. Nudge the boulder in the valley, and it rolls back into place. Nudge the boulder at the top and it cascades down the slope. Hence the valley is called a stable fixed point, while the zenith is called unstable.  Make sense?

Appreciating the difference between these two kinds of fixed points help in understanding both nature and society.  Let’s look at nature first.

The size of Lake Michigan is a stable fixed point. Why? If a heavy rainfall or snowmelt causes Lake Michigan to grow in size, then the surface area also increases. This causes water to evaporate at a greater rate, so the lake eventually reverts back to its normal size.  That is, the lake tends to stay stable just like the boulder in the valley.

The length of dog’s nails is stable. The longer the nails, the more there is to get worn down when the dog walks on pavement. Eventually the nails wear down as fast as they grow.  Knowing this, I had a dog for 12 years without ever cutting his nails – the length of Elvis’s nails found a stable fixed point.

Other natural phenomena are unstable. Try balancing a table knife on its point. As soon as the knife tips just a bit, the force pulling it down increases, leading the knife to tip even faster.

Or try using one magnet to pull another one across a table without touching each other. It’s almost impossible because as the magnets get closer the pull between them increases, so they snap together. The only stable fixed point is for them to be connected.

Some fixed points are more complicated – and interesting.  A boulder in a little divot on the top of a hill will roll back into place if moved just a smidgeon, but if pushed too far, will tumble down into the valley.

An example of this? Consider your skin. If you get just a scratch or small sore, your body will heal back to its original health. Too large of a wound, and it will fester – leading to amputation or death.

The earth’s climate is another example. If altered just a bit, experience and models show that it returns to its original state.  But if pushed too far, there is good reason to think that, like the sore or boulder, it will cascade to a new position.

Why?  Presently the polar ice caps reflect much of the sun’s energy back into space thus helping to keep the earth from warming up too much. As the icecaps melt, more solar energy is absorbed and the earth heats up all the more.

Also, there are huge areas of permafrost in the northern latitudes with carbon dioxide frozen in the ground. As the earth continues to warm, these areas thaw and the gas is released, leading to even more of the greenhouse effect. This is why scientists believe that we have a short window of opportunity to keep the climate from cascading to an entirely new fixed point.  Worth noting.

Society also has these fixed points. Yogi Berra once said of a restaurant, “Nobody goes there anymore – it’s too busy.” In less humorous words, the busyness of the restaurant was keeping others away.  Thus the number of patrons remained stable.

On the other hand, consider Christmas toy crazes: Cabbage Patch dolls, Beanie Babies, Tickle Me Elmo.  These things created their own demand. Folks wanted them because others had them. Thus, unlike the restaurant, the more there are, the more others buy. Creating such an unstable fixed point is every manufacturer’s dream.

A social media story that goes “viral” is another example.  As each viewer passes it on to friends, the growth becomes exponential. That’s the definition of an explosion.

 Gun ownership may have two stable fixed points. The United Kingdom has a stable fixed point of essentially no guns.  In the U.S., there is enough killing from guns that others now want them for protection. So we are heading towards the opposite fixed point.  Two fixed points, but different consequences:  Our fixed point results in per capita gun-deaths 50 times higher than England.

Worth noting.