Ross... My Engineer Friend... and I

I was in a "The Myth of Sisyphus" mood for the past few days... I still am... and I have to snap out of it... 
"You believe in mind over body," Ross told me whenever I was in this type of mood... adding; "go to your classroom and snap out of it..." 
He did not have a remedy... No one has... But when I am in a mood like this I fall back to my younger years and recall Camus... and the others... Gogol and Dostoevsky... and rebel again... If I was at the school, definitely Ross and I would have visited the nearby Canyon Creek for a glass or two and lots of philosophy...  It sometimes worked... at times it did not work... and the mood lingered longer... lasted a lifetime... lulled my senses... and breezed in a lullaby... "Thinking is a curse..." and Ross agreed with me... Thinking anchors you..." Ross did not agree with me... and to prove himself he just mentioned my situation... 
Ross rather dream... Dream and Believe... He wanted a jump of faith... "In order to snap out of the Myth... you need a leap of faith... in something... in anything... maybe in God... maybe in the goodness of human beings... Just have faith... and the absurdity will dissipate... You will be yourself again..." With my drink... Ross made sense... and when I drove back to my place... The Ross and the drink had done the magic... 
Ross was a magician... and the drink always helped... 
Ross was a friend... He did not lead... He did not follow either... He just waited... and said; "You are allowed..." 

Just a note:

Sisyphus, a figure of Greek mythology who was condemned to repeat forever the same meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain, only to see it roll down again.   The central concern of The Myth of Sisyphus is what Camus calls "the absurd." Camus claims that there is a fundamental conflict between what we want from the universe (whether it be meaning, order, or reasons) and what we find in the universe (formless chaos). We will never find in life itself the meaning that we want to find. Either we will discover that meaning through a leap of faith, by placing our hopes in a God beyond this world, or we will conclude that life is meaningless...

Writing is always a good remedy for everything... It brings things into focus... Putting your thoughts and dreams down on paper, or just in your laptop, clarifies and refines the concepts, may even initiate new thoughts and unresolved ideas... 

I am sure when my friend writes he becomes more of a thinker than an engineer... and I am happy for that... 

Here are excerpts of what he wrote... The rest were personal and most of the time... not interesting to "others"...maybe even boring, for others...  So here are some relevant excerpts... that my engineer friend wrote... 

Hello Sir,  ... It's funny that you mention my provoking thoughts though, and I guess I will tie that in with what I've been seeing in the blog recently. Maybe what I say will provoke you a little bit, but nevertheless interest you the same.  A recurring theme I've recently noticed in your blog is that you really hate sexism against women and I know that you've always been a strong activist against it. Sometimes, you even took it a step further and argued that women are better than men, the most vivid example being your reasoning behind why God created Eve after Adam. [Refer to my note below...] Obviously, there are counter arguments to that story, many of which I remember trying to debate with you but you were never having any of it. You were always very protective of women's rights and that's something that you should be admired for.

Hi, 
Let me start with a quote from Camus; "Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend."
My engineer friend... at one point in my growth I was fascinated by the concept of Hegelian Dialectic...of thesis, antithesis , and which contradicts or negates the thesis, and the tension between the two is resolved by means of synthesis... This method can be perpetual... since the synthesis will become the new thesis which will attract its negation ... eventually resulting in the new synthesis...
Maybe our dialogue is destined to follow the Hegelian methodology... So fascinating... and great...! Since with every rung of the conflict will result into a higher rung of synthesis... Do you still remember Mathematical Induction...? You should review the method again... 
Once I was fascinated with Dostoevsky... and Gogol.. and Camus... my aspiration for engineering evolved into mathematics... and  it in turn guided me into a perpetual search for Truth... and while I was teaching Ross, at one point, was helpful in my search... and my stay for a week in the monastery for my retreat by myself...alone ...brought me closer to the ever elusive Truth... 
Your thinking is creative and "provoking"... Your engineering is attempting to mimic older shapes and forms and mold them into new presentations... in time and space...
I suggest that you should always provoke... stirring the pot is refreshing  and prevents decay... To provoke and think... Maybe that's the healthy process... maybe they go hand in hand...
My telling of the creation story of Adam and Eve was just an intentional provocation... to make students think... and here is how it goes... "After all has been created... God created Adam to enjoy the created wonder... the world... But after a while God observed that Adam is not happy and sort of bored... with himself... So God pitied him and decided to create another one, a companion for him... But since God was experienced now while creating Adam... He created Eve better and more perfect..."
I concluded the story by challenging the students to find a fault in my made up tale... and it indeed provoked a discussion... For me math is thinking...  and thinking is Math... Ross comprehended this fundamental axiom and that's exactly why he metamorphosed into a mathematician without the boring numbers... 
I have told the Adam and Eve story to Ross too... and it made him happy... and for days he came up with colourful reasons why it was wrong... and non of them from the Bible...! Eventually, after few days, he came up with the brilliant suggestion... 
Let's go for a drink...," he said... and I concurred wholeheartedly...

***

My friend wrote more... and I will print them tomorrow...