Monday, April 30, 2012

The Glass: A Discussion

P:  Your glass is half empty.

O:  Is it?

R:  Well, it's a 10 ounce glass, and there are currently 5 ounces of orange juice in it.

O:  I only put 8 ounces in there to begin with.  Maybe it's 5/8 full.

R:  The fact remains, it's a 10 ounce glass, and there are 5 ounces of orange juice.  That means we have 5 ounces of orange juice.  If you transferred the juice to a 5 ounce glass, the glass would be completely full.

P:  That doesn't solve the problem at all.  If you change the shape of the problem, it still remains the same problem.  There used to be 8 ounces, and now there are only 5.  The orange juice is disappearing. 

O:  But I like this glass.  I don't want a smaller one.  This one fits my hand nicely.

R:  The size of the glass doesn't matter.  What matters is how much orange juice you have now.

O:  The size of the glass does matter.  There is more potential with a bigger glass.

R:  Why would more potential matter?  You have 8 ounces of juice; you should have an 8 ounce glass.

P:  Actually, the juice is disappearing.  There were 8 ounces.  Now there are 5.

O:  Actually, now we're down to 1 ounce of juice.

P:  Ah!  The rate of disappearance is increasing!

R:  Which means we now need a 1 ounce cup.

O:  But I started with 8 ounces of juice.

R:  That doesn't matter.  The only thing that matters is what you have now.

P:  The past definitely matters!  There should be a bigger glass to begin with.  If the rate of disappearance keeps increasing, you need to start with an infinitely large glass.

O:  That's... a little ridiculous.

R:  That's completely ridiculous.  The rate of disappearance doesn't matter.  All that matters is what is in the glass now.  Why give yourself a bigger glass to make you think things are better than they are?

P:  It's not to make you think things are better than they are.  It's to give you a better chance of having enough orange juice even though it keeps disappearing.

R:  What is enough?  You have what you have, no more, no less.

O:  Unless you drink it all, in which case you have none left.

P:  Your glass is empty.

O:  Or my stomach is half full.

P:  Doesn't that make you sad?

R:  Why sad?  What is the point of being sad about the lack of orange juice?  It is what it is.

P:  But now there's no more.

O:  Unless I pour more.

R:  How much are you pouring?

P:  Aha!  You did start with a bigger glass!  Or, pitcher.

O: Or an orange tree.  Hey look!  My glass is full!

P:  Until you drink it all.

O:  Funny thing about that...



 

1 comment:

kaylee webb said...

Chelsea i have to agree with you right now about that it doesn't really matter how much you have a that point and time, what does matter is the potential.