Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Is Love Homogeneous of Degree 1?
So durring the height of my insanity cause by this math course, Laura and I started talking about losing and gaining weight, and how love might be connected to one's body size. Perfectly innocent math-free conversation, but my mind was not having any.
My math crazed head started wondering if Love, described by the function L[x] where x is equal to the mass of the object of the love, is a function which is homogeneous of degree one, greater than one, or less than one, or if it was homogeneous at all.
If L[x] is homogeneous of degree one, then love would experience constant returns to scale, or a 10% increase in body mass would corrospond to a 10% increase in love.
Now I am not asking you to answer this question, but feel free to try if you like, this is really just an illustration of how low the human brain can sink, if forced to endure undue amounts of pain.
So durring the height of my insanity cause by this math course, Laura and I started talking about losing and gaining weight, and how love might be connected to one's body size. Perfectly innocent math-free conversation, but my mind was not having any.
My math crazed head started wondering if Love, described by the function L[x] where x is equal to the mass of the object of the love, is a function which is homogeneous of degree one, greater than one, or less than one, or if it was homogeneous at all.
If L[x] is homogeneous of degree one, then love would experience constant returns to scale, or a 10% increase in body mass would corrospond to a 10% increase in love.
Now I am not asking you to answer this question, but feel free to try if you like, this is really just an illustration of how low the human brain can sink, if forced to endure undue amounts of pain.
Comments:
I'm feeling for you, Steve. I expected you to experience challenges in your early married life, but a discussion of L[x] so soon?
Let me help you here. I don't think you see the whole picture yet, as a man of my maturity and marriage experience does. Here's the complete function for marriage happiness and love. In this function, marital happiness is achieved when L approaches a value of 1:
L[c/h] ; L=love, h=hunger and c=cooking
You can see where this is going. If she is hungry three times each day, but you are only cooking for her once each day, that renders a value for L of ~.33. Not good.
If, on the other hand, each time time she feels a hunger pang, she finds you proactively in the kitchen cooking up a nice meal before ever she has to ask you, then she will be happy and content. And we all know that, "Ain't momma happy, ain'y nobody happy."
I know this formula to be true from experience, and it is proven in actual clinical studies here in Minnesota. (Well ok, here in Stillwater.)
Hope this helps.
Dad
Let me help you here. I don't think you see the whole picture yet, as a man of my maturity and marriage experience does. Here's the complete function for marriage happiness and love. In this function, marital happiness is achieved when L approaches a value of 1:
L[c/h] ; L=love, h=hunger and c=cooking
You can see where this is going. If she is hungry three times each day, but you are only cooking for her once each day, that renders a value for L of ~.33. Not good.
If, on the other hand, each time time she feels a hunger pang, she finds you proactively in the kitchen cooking up a nice meal before ever she has to ask you, then she will be happy and content. And we all know that, "Ain't momma happy, ain'y nobody happy."
I know this formula to be true from experience, and it is proven in actual clinical studies here in Minnesota. (Well ok, here in Stillwater.)
Hope this helps.
Dad
You know, I feel a plot a-foot. Y'all want me to gain weight, don't you?! I'm sure it'll come in due time. My hope is that it comes by less gluttonous means and will essentially remedy itself in due course: say, nine months.
ooh ooh, on the plus side, maybe I'll be able to steal more of my only other friends' clothes. She keeps shedding the pounds, and then coming over and saying, "This just doesn't fit me right anymore" or "I don't wear this any more. Do you want it?" So far over the last 4 years I've gotten half a dozen t-shirts, several shorts, a REALLY nice pair of slacks (love them, Liz, thank you!) and a skirt.
Ooh shoot... one problem. The next size up for me from here? I don't think Liz has ever hit it. I don't think she's ever gotten close. Shoot.
Um, so there goes that plan.
Sorry men. No more "L" for you. No incentive here to gain weight. Steve, I'm sure as an economist you can understand.
Ooh shoot... one problem. The next size up for me from here? I don't think Liz has ever hit it. I don't think she's ever gotten close. Shoot.
Um, so there goes that plan.
Sorry men. No more "L" for you. No incentive here to gain weight. Steve, I'm sure as an economist you can understand.
I don't suppose I need to comment on the marriage state if L greatly exceeds a value of 1... Many other values could also skyrocket i.e., the cost of clothing, which has already been mentioned, but also food and utilities could rise.
So, as you can readily see, the state of 1-ness should be your goal.
Dad
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So, as you can readily see, the state of 1-ness should be your goal.
Dad
