Memorial Day USA - The mathematics of empathy
I was surprised to hear from my adopted twelve-year old nephew Paul the day after I had an unexpected and delightful visit with his six-year old sister Sam. Paul has this social studies teacher who challenges his students with assignments that they get excited about and which frequently involves help from extended family. Learning that Paul had an assignment for memorial day weekend just a week before the last day of school did not surprise me. Paul called early this morning and asked if he could come over after school. He had already checked with his parents to make sure it was okay with them. The family is leaving tomorrow for a visit to his dad’s parents.
Since he was coming right after school I knew he would need a “snack” more substantial than cookies. Paul is particularly fond of grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon made with Uncle Jim’s homemade rye bread. Fortunately it is okay with him that I use pre-cooked bacon and the Gorge Foreman Grill. I had everything all ready to go when I heard a light knock at the kitchen door followed by the door opening.
Me: Hi Paul. How was school? Hungry?
Paul: (Gives me a hug and a kiss.) It was okay but even the teachers seem eager for the summer to begin. Except, of course, for Mr. Holcomb.
Me: I thought I would make grilled cheese with bacon on rye. Okay!
Paul: Yes, please. I am really hungry Uncle Jim.
Me: Great. Why don’t you pour your mik. The grill does not take long. Do you have your assignment?
Paul: Here it is Uncle Jim.
Paul assignment: “Memorial Day – The mathematics of empathy. In a war each side thinks that they are right. Each inflicts harm and suffers much hard. After a war there is a struggle for those involved or the countries involved to hold on to the belief that the lives of their friends and family members were not in vain. At the same time, if further wars are to be avoided each side has to believe that both or all countries were equally right or wrong and that it is okay to forgive, trust again and move on. If you were President of the United States this memorial day what brief speech would you most want to give to the people of Japan and the United States. You can either write a brief speech or list the points you would make in bullet form. In mathematical terms two plus two has to equal four meaning you have to balance the pain and the consequent needs of the veterans and their families in your country with the pain and consequent needs of the veterans and their families in Japan.”
Me: Wow! I do like Mr. Holcomb. He certainly challenges his student (and their families) to think.
Here. Your sandwich is ready.
Paul: Thanks Uncle Jim
Me: Let’s use the board. How about X represents the pain and consequent needs of veterans and their families in the Japan and Y represents the pain and consequent needs of veterans and their families in the USA. We need for:
X = Y
If both X and Y = 2 then:
2 = 2
What do you think are the pain and consequent needs of X and Y Paul?
Paul: Japan needs to believe that they did a good thing when they killed people and attacked the ship in Pearl Harbor?
Me: How could they think killing people was a good thing.
Paul: Because they believed that to provide a good life for Japanese people that they needed to control more countries? Japan, Italy and Germany formed … Now I cannot remember Uncle Jim
Me: The Axis?
Paul: That is it Uncle Jim. Mr. Holcomb says that if we really want to understand WW II we would have to look at history long before WW III. He says that sometimes it seems as if we act as if events just occur out of nothing.
Me: That is very good Paul. As you get older you might want to read the three volume Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain as well as some other books which look at the history leading up to WWII. There are a lot of thoughts and opinions which we in the USA generally do not study in K-12 grades.
Paul: How do we do this assignment without reading a lot of books now Uncle Jim? I cannot read a bunch of books before Tuesday.
Me: That is true. Perhaps for now it is enough to know that countries have been taking over other countries or territories for a long time. The United States did not, for example, begin as the 50 states we now are did it.
Paul: No. Sometimes we bought areas which became states or territories or we fought other people.
Me: That is right Paul. I suppose we should get back to the assignment. So:
• X thought that they were helping the Japanese people long term.
What did Y, the USA, think Paul.
Paul: The thought:
• We were defending ourselves after an attack at Pearl Harbor.
Me: Had there been a lot of pressure from England and other countries for the United States to get involved in the war Paul?
Paul: Didn’t Mr. Churchill spend a lot of time at the White House Uncle Jim?
Me: Yes he did. Do you know what Mrs. Roosevelt worried about when Mr. Churchill visited.
Paul: We talked about that. She worried that her husband, the president, would drink as much as Mr. Churchill.
Me: That is right. So another reason we got into the war was:
• To help our friends fight the Germans.
Ignoring a lot of other important events what was the final outcome Paul.
Paul:
• A lot of Y’s (the USA’s) soldiers died in the war.
• People in the USA had to give up a lot to make sure that there was money and supplies for the war. It was called rat…l Oh, what was it called, Uncle Jim.
Me: Rationing meaning that you could only buy so much of certain good or sometimes a lot of things were not availabe. Even food was rationed. Even before the atomic bomb the Japanese people lost a lot? There are many different figures for how many each country lost in WW II. Some estimated that the United States lost over 131 million and Japan lost 71 million plus places such as Korea which was a colony of Japan lost a lot. Over 5 millions Jewish people were killed in the death camps. All the countries involved lost of a lot of people. Every lost represented a family member and, thus, affected others. How do we measure the losses Paul? The atomic bomb killed an estimated 225,000. Did dropping the bombs save more lives than it took.
Paul: It is really difficult to imagine those numbers. So, Uncle Jim, does X ever equal Y? Do they ever come out even Uncle Jim?
Me: I do not think the number killed tells the whole story especially when we think that every death affected many people for many years. We also have to think about the fact that once one country used the bomb it started another chain of events.
Paul: How do we assign a number to each of the issues we have discussed Uncle Jim?
Me: I have no idea. It seems we would have to say that each side suffered loss and consequent pain of 2 to the infinite power. There is no way to measure that is there Paul.
Paul: It does not seem like it Uncle Jim.
So if both X and Y had infinite pain and subsequent need to the infinite power, are they equal?
Me: Let’s for now assume that might be true. If that is accurate what should we focus on in the speech Paul?
Paul: That no one wins in war and no one wins when one person or country thinks that they are more important than another?
Me: So it sounds as if the only way to make the equation equal is to honor the great pain everyone suffers. Perhaps it is also important that we not forget that everyone is equally sacred and that we need to work hard to make sure everyone is treated as we want to be treated. What do you think Paul?
Paul: That makes sense Uncle Jim. You, me, Sam, mom and dad all are treated the same. Sam and I argue some times but we love each other. Are you saying a country or a group of countries is like a big family Uncle Jim.
Me: I guess I am Paul. Does this mean your speech is going to be very short Paul?
Paul: I guess. It will be like a Japanese poem, the Hi… The hi..?
Me: The Haiku?
Paul: Yes.
Me: Ahh. So your speech will have 3 lines with the first and last line having 5 moras and the middle lime having 7. Let’s see:
We are all petals.
Paul: That is 5 syllables. Now we need a line of 7.
Each meeting in the center.
Me: Very good Paul. Now for the last line.
Tethered but growing.
Paul. That is like our family Uncle Jim We share a home base but we have to grow beyond it.
Me: Outstanding Paul. You are so bright. I am so proud of you. So here is your speech:
We are all petals
Each meeting in the center.
Tethered but growing.
Paul: Thanks Uncle Jim.
Me: You are welcome Paul. This was fun.
Written May 26, 2016.
I was surprised to hear from my adopted twelve-year old nephew Paul the day after I had an unexpected and delightful visit with his six-year old sister Sam. Paul has this social studies teacher who challenges his students with assignments that they get excited about and which frequently involves help from extended family. Learning that Paul had an assignment for memorial day weekend just a week before the last day of school did not surprise me. Paul called early this morning and asked if he could come over after school. He had already checked with his parents to make sure it was okay with them. The family is leaving tomorrow for a visit to his dad’s parents.
Since he was coming right after school I knew he would need a “snack” more substantial than cookies. Paul is particularly fond of grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon made with Uncle Jim’s homemade rye bread. Fortunately it is okay with him that I use pre-cooked bacon and the Gorge Foreman Grill. I had everything all ready to go when I heard a light knock at the kitchen door followed by the door opening.
Me: Hi Paul. How was school? Hungry?
Paul: (Gives me a hug and a kiss.) It was okay but even the teachers seem eager for the summer to begin. Except, of course, for Mr. Holcomb.
Me: I thought I would make grilled cheese with bacon on rye. Okay!
Paul: Yes, please. I am really hungry Uncle Jim.
Me: Great. Why don’t you pour your mik. The grill does not take long. Do you have your assignment?
Paul: Here it is Uncle Jim.
Paul assignment: “Memorial Day – The mathematics of empathy. In a war each side thinks that they are right. Each inflicts harm and suffers much hard. After a war there is a struggle for those involved or the countries involved to hold on to the belief that the lives of their friends and family members were not in vain. At the same time, if further wars are to be avoided each side has to believe that both or all countries were equally right or wrong and that it is okay to forgive, trust again and move on. If you were President of the United States this memorial day what brief speech would you most want to give to the people of Japan and the United States. You can either write a brief speech or list the points you would make in bullet form. In mathematical terms two plus two has to equal four meaning you have to balance the pain and the consequent needs of the veterans and their families in your country with the pain and consequent needs of the veterans and their families in Japan.”
Me: Wow! I do like Mr. Holcomb. He certainly challenges his student (and their families) to think.
Here. Your sandwich is ready.
Paul: Thanks Uncle Jim
Me: Let’s use the board. How about X represents the pain and consequent needs of veterans and their families in the Japan and Y represents the pain and consequent needs of veterans and their families in the USA. We need for:
X = Y
If both X and Y = 2 then:
2 = 2
What do you think are the pain and consequent needs of X and Y Paul?
Paul: Japan needs to believe that they did a good thing when they killed people and attacked the ship in Pearl Harbor?
Me: How could they think killing people was a good thing.
Paul: Because they believed that to provide a good life for Japanese people that they needed to control more countries? Japan, Italy and Germany formed … Now I cannot remember Uncle Jim
Me: The Axis?
Paul: That is it Uncle Jim. Mr. Holcomb says that if we really want to understand WW II we would have to look at history long before WW III. He says that sometimes it seems as if we act as if events just occur out of nothing.
Me: That is very good Paul. As you get older you might want to read the three volume Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain as well as some other books which look at the history leading up to WWII. There are a lot of thoughts and opinions which we in the USA generally do not study in K-12 grades.
Paul: How do we do this assignment without reading a lot of books now Uncle Jim? I cannot read a bunch of books before Tuesday.
Me: That is true. Perhaps for now it is enough to know that countries have been taking over other countries or territories for a long time. The United States did not, for example, begin as the 50 states we now are did it.
Paul: No. Sometimes we bought areas which became states or territories or we fought other people.
Me: That is right Paul. I suppose we should get back to the assignment. So:
• X thought that they were helping the Japanese people long term.
What did Y, the USA, think Paul.
Paul: The thought:
• We were defending ourselves after an attack at Pearl Harbor.
Me: Had there been a lot of pressure from England and other countries for the United States to get involved in the war Paul?
Paul: Didn’t Mr. Churchill spend a lot of time at the White House Uncle Jim?
Me: Yes he did. Do you know what Mrs. Roosevelt worried about when Mr. Churchill visited.
Paul: We talked about that. She worried that her husband, the president, would drink as much as Mr. Churchill.
Me: That is right. So another reason we got into the war was:
• To help our friends fight the Germans.
Ignoring a lot of other important events what was the final outcome Paul.
Paul:
• A lot of Y’s (the USA’s) soldiers died in the war.
• People in the USA had to give up a lot to make sure that there was money and supplies for the war. It was called rat…l Oh, what was it called, Uncle Jim.
Me: Rationing meaning that you could only buy so much of certain good or sometimes a lot of things were not availabe. Even food was rationed. Even before the atomic bomb the Japanese people lost a lot? There are many different figures for how many each country lost in WW II. Some estimated that the United States lost over 131 million and Japan lost 71 million plus places such as Korea which was a colony of Japan lost a lot. Over 5 millions Jewish people were killed in the death camps. All the countries involved lost of a lot of people. Every lost represented a family member and, thus, affected others. How do we measure the losses Paul? The atomic bomb killed an estimated 225,000. Did dropping the bombs save more lives than it took.
Paul: It is really difficult to imagine those numbers. So, Uncle Jim, does X ever equal Y? Do they ever come out even Uncle Jim?
Me: I do not think the number killed tells the whole story especially when we think that every death affected many people for many years. We also have to think about the fact that once one country used the bomb it started another chain of events.
Paul: How do we assign a number to each of the issues we have discussed Uncle Jim?
Me: I have no idea. It seems we would have to say that each side suffered loss and consequent pain of 2 to the infinite power. There is no way to measure that is there Paul.
Paul: It does not seem like it Uncle Jim.
So if both X and Y had infinite pain and subsequent need to the infinite power, are they equal?
Me: Let’s for now assume that might be true. If that is accurate what should we focus on in the speech Paul?
Paul: That no one wins in war and no one wins when one person or country thinks that they are more important than another?
Me: So it sounds as if the only way to make the equation equal is to honor the great pain everyone suffers. Perhaps it is also important that we not forget that everyone is equally sacred and that we need to work hard to make sure everyone is treated as we want to be treated. What do you think Paul?
Paul: That makes sense Uncle Jim. You, me, Sam, mom and dad all are treated the same. Sam and I argue some times but we love each other. Are you saying a country or a group of countries is like a big family Uncle Jim.
Me: I guess I am Paul. Does this mean your speech is going to be very short Paul?
Paul: I guess. It will be like a Japanese poem, the Hi… The hi..?
Me: The Haiku?
Paul: Yes.
Me: Ahh. So your speech will have 3 lines with the first and last line having 5 moras and the middle lime having 7. Let’s see:
We are all petals.
Paul: That is 5 syllables. Now we need a line of 7.
Each meeting in the center.
Me: Very good Paul. Now for the last line.
Tethered but growing.
Paul. That is like our family Uncle Jim We share a home base but we have to grow beyond it.
Me: Outstanding Paul. You are so bright. I am so proud of you. So here is your speech:
We are all petals
Each meeting in the center.
Tethered but growing.
Paul: Thanks Uncle Jim.
Me: You are welcome Paul. This was fun.
Written May 26, 2016.
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