Rules

 
It is Sunday evening and my 12- year-old adopted nephew, Paul, who lives with his six-year-old sister, Sam, and their parents next door, has just appeared at my door.  Paul is now at the age where he does not always find it “cool” to seek out the help or advice of Uncle Jim,  although he does seem to be doing it more often lately.
 
Me:  Hi Paul.  Come on in.  I thought you would be home doing homework.  I seem to recall that sometimes I would put off Monday homework until Sunday night which would drive my parents crazy.
 
Paul:  I am doing homework Uncle Jim.  Dad suggested that you might be able to help me.  Could you?
 
Me: I don’t know Paul, but I can try. Let’s go to the kitchen table and see if there are any chocolate chip cookies and milk.
 
Paul; Uncle Jim, you always have cookies you just made!
 
Me: Well, yes. I do try to do that.  I did make 12 dozen on Saturday. There seems to be many cookie monsters in the neighborhood.
 
I get the cookies and the milk and put them  on the kitchen table.
 
Paul:  Thanks uncle Jim.
 
Me: You are welcome Paul.  Now, what is this homework?
 
Paul:  Well, Uncle Jim, it is really dumb!
 
Me:  Goodness.  Dumb is it?
 
Paul:  Well, maybe not dumb, but I do not know what to write.
 
Me: What is the assignment Paul?
 
Paul:  We are supposed to write a paragraph on the quote from some guy named Einstein.
 
Me:  Well, he was a famous scientist who said a lot. What is the quote Paul?
 
Paul:  (reads from the homework assignment page) “Genius simply cannot be reduced to a set of rules for anyone to follow.”  Albert Einstein – Einsteinalive.com
 
Me;  Wow. I can see why that might sound confusing to you Paul.  How shall we approach this?  Do you know what a genius is Paul?
 
Paul:  Yes.   Someone who is smart enough to make sense out of this Uncle Jim!
 
Me: (smiling) Yes. It is a person whose mind seems to understand some things that most of us have problems with. Okay.  You know what the word rules means Paul?
 
Paul: Yes!  I have a lot of rules to follow.
 
Me:  What do you think that the word creative means Paul.
 
Paul:  The other day dad said I was creative in getting out of chores.   I think he meant that I had a lot of excuses.
 
Me:  Yes, he meant that but I think he meant more. Shall we look up the word Paul?
 
Paul:  Okay (sighs and gets the big dictionary off the shelf).
 
Me; Do you know how to spell cre a tive Paul?  Cre a tive
 
Paul:   Cre a tive.
 
Me: Very good. 
 
Paul: Here it is Uncle Jim.  It says in this dictionary, “Relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work….” (oxforddictionary.com)
 
I am still not sure how to apply this to the homework assignment, Uncle Jim.
 
Me: In terms of what your dad said about you being creative in getting out of home chores, I think he meant that you sometimes think of excuses he did not think of.
 
Paul:  (snickers)
 
Me:  Do you remember we talked about the fact that at one time people believed that the earth was flat and then some people  including Columbus begin to think that it could be round and that the way the moon changed shape could help us understand that possibility.  As soon as some people allowed for the possibility that what they believed might not be true, they were able to make new discoveries. So creative means the we begin to allow for the possibility that what we think is true might not be true or might not be  all the truth.  Picasso the artist decided  that art could be different than just drawing or painting things to look like a painted photograph.  In music, a group called the Beatles did a progression from a major to a minor chord in the song called “Eleanor Rigby.”  Some people thought this was not the right way to do music!  When people hear music from other countries they might think it is not music  the way they are used to thinking about music.  Great chefs become well known because they ‘create’ by using different ingredients together.
 
Let’s take something really simple. You think your six-year-old sister is lame, don’t you?
 
Paul: I am not allowed to say that Uncle Jim.
 
Me;  But you think it don’t you?
 
Paul:  Yes, but don’t tell mom and dad I said that.
 
Me: I won’t.   It is common for brothers and sisters to think the other is lame. Then something happens and they begin to find out that they are not lame. If we are determined to keep believing that our brother or sister is lame, we will not see who the really are.  I know you do not believe me but one of these days,  you are going to think Sam is the neatest person you know!
 
Paul; I don’t think so Uncle Jim.
 
Me: I guess we better get back to your homework assignment.  Let’s reread the statement Einstein made.  “Genius simply cannot be reduced to a set of rules for anyone to follow.”   The way we discover new things is to  say the opposite. This is called a null hypotheses.   So, if we say that we can find new things by obeying all the existing rules that would be the null hypotheses for the Einstein statement.   Let’s think about some of your computer games, Paul. You really like it when a new game comes along don’t you? 
 
Paul:  Yes.
 
Me: Well if they just followed a set of rules then all new computer games would be just like the old ones.   That would be boring.  So someone has to say, “What if this game did this?”  Someone else might say, “The rules of computer games are that …”   The other person might then say, “Let’s just try it this way.”
 
One of the things that Einstein talked a lot about was about how many times we go to war. One of the reasons we fight each other  is that we think that our way of thinking or doing things is the right way and we have to make everyone do it our way.  For example, you have noticed that some of the new women in town wear scarfs of their heads and some cover their faces.  What if we said all people had to wear scarfs and anyone who did not would have to die or go to prison.
 
Paul: That would be stupid. 
 
Me: I agree.  So is it wrong to wear scarfs on your head?
 
Paul: No, my friend’s mother wears one and she is really nice.
 
Me: It is wrong for women not to not wear scarfs
 
Paul: Mother does not wear one and I really love her.
 
Me: So what if we decided that our rules were not the only good rules – that there are other ways to do things.  Let’s take another example. In your home, the rule was that everyone had to make their bed as soon as they got up.   You told mom and dad that it was your bed and you should be able to leave it unmade.
 
Paul:  Then we talked about it and mom and dad decided that it would be okay  for everyone in the family to decide if they wanted to make the bed or leave it unmade.
 
Me: Yes, mom and dad had to stop and think about whether that rule made sense  or was that important for everyone in the family.  On the other hand, the rule is that you cannot drive the car yet.  That is a good rule because you cannot reach the pedal or understand how dangerous the car can be.  On the other hand, if you were living on the farm, you might already be driving a tractor or even the farm pick up some of the time. 
 
Paul:  Really?
 
Me:  Yes. So what do you think you can write in your paragraph?
 
Paul:  Could I write, “Some rules are good and some rules are not good, but sometimes we think rules can never be changed. If we never questioned rules, we would still think the earth was flat,  all music would be the same, all art would be the same, and all computer games would the same. Also, Uncle Jim says that if we continue to believe that we all have to think the same, we will still have lots of war..  We have to be – what was that word – cre..
 
Me: Creative?
 
Paul: Yes.  We have to be creative if we are going to stop shootings at schools and other places.
 
Me: Paul, that is really good. Now let write it down while it is still fresh.  I am so proud of you.
 
Paul:  Thanks uncle Jim
 
Paul writes it down.
 
Paul: Can I have another cookie? This was hard work. 
 
Me: You should can.    Now we better pack up. I will walk across to your house and say goodnight to your mom , dad, and Sam.
 
Paul: Okay, but I still think she is lame.
 
Me: I know but that will change,  trust me!
 
Written December 6, 2015  #2