![]() You could say that this was the moment when my inner-instigator was born and this change-the-context mindset is something I’ve carried with me ever since. If I could take a regular old triangle and make those angles add up however I wanted just by putting it on a different plane, I could do the same with any rule-mathematic or otherwise. If I didn’t like a particular rule, I didn’t have to break it in order to get the answer I wanted I just had to change the context. Suddenly I saw a different way to be a rebel. This iconoclastic approach never sat well with me because I don’t enjoy drama and I dislike hurting people. Until then I had always thought that the only way to be a rebel-the only way to stand up to authority and question the status quo-was by breaking the rules. In that moment, I realized that there is more than just one way to challenge rules and question authority. I learned that “rules” aren’t really rules, but they depend entirely on the context where they exist. This lesson taught me something much bigger than just the sum of the angles in a triangle. W starts spouting heresy, telling us that if we put that very same triangle in a different space, the rules would suddenly change. Yet, as humans we often take rules at face value. We accept certain “rules” as facts, without stopping to consider how the context-the space where those rules operate-might shape or affect them.Īs a ninth grade geometry student, I accepted that the sum of the angles in a triangle equaled 180 degrees. As writers, we grapple this tension between rules and context all the time. Guess What! There Are No RulesĮven in a subject like math, where we might expect rules to be absolute, it turns out that “rules” are relative and often based on context. Many of those rules that we take for granted in Euclidean geometry no longer apply when you explore them in either hyperbolic or elliptical space. For a picture of what I mean, take a look at the infographic on the right.īut you’re probably wondering what all this has to do with writing. This same logic doesn’t just hold true for triangles. Conversely, because a hyperbolic plane is concave, the sum of the angles will be slightly smaller than 180 degrees. Remember how the angles of the triangle added up to 180 degrees? That’s no longer true.īecause an elliptical plane is convex, the sum of the angles in a triangle are actually a little bit greater than 180 degrees. a ball) or a hyperbolic plane (shaped like two trumpets kissing)-then all of a sudden the geometric rules change. When we put that same triangle on a different plane-an elliptical plane (i.e. This rule-along with all the other ones we learn in Euclidean geometry-is irrefutable and there are mathematical ways to prove it. For instance, the angles in a triangle always add up to 180 degrees. In this Euclidean world, we can count on certain rules to apply. Most geometry we learn at school takes place on a flat plane. Maybe I’m just the biggest dork of all time but I learned more about education and life in those two days of non-Euclidean geometry than I did in most of high school, college, and beyond. I’m sure you can imagine the collective groan that ensued.Īnd yet there was something kind of cool about learning math where none of the expected rules applied. He decides to teach us some non-Euclidean geometry. Using the teacher equivalent of a Jedi mind-trick, Mr. W has two options (A) start new material even though we’ll be leaving for winter break in two days and will likely forget it all, or (B) find some way to keep a classroom of adolescent prep-school girls from devolving into utter chaos. It’s 1992 just before the holidays, and my geometry class has finished the lessons in that particular unit. Everything changed in ninth grade geometry. There are right answers and wrong answers, and in between them there’s little wiggle room for any shades of grey. At least, that’s what I thought, at first. Most people think of math a logical, straightforward subject. If you’re not on the list, but want a sneak peek at this column before it hits the blog (and want to help crowd-source it too), go here to sign up. If you’re already an email subscriber, you can help me choose letters that get featured here by replying to the emails you loved most. Just saying.Īs with previous installments, this topic first came up in the DIY MFA newsletter. Warning: things are going to get a bit nerdy up in here. In this installment of “Writer Fuel” I show my true colors in all their geeky glory. ![]()
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