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An Adventure of Mine*
The Math Quiz
A WARM SPRING DAY
It was a warm, almost hot day in late Spring. The sun was shining brightly. The trees were all leafed out. There was a gentle breeze blowing.
And it was high school. It was Math class. It was the period before lunch. None of us wanted to be in class on such a nice day, especially math class. We were all staring, longing out the windows as in walked the instructor.
THE CHALLANGE
"Everyone take out a sheet of paper," said Mr.Faulkes.
We all groaned loudly.
"I know," Mr.Faulkes said, "that none of you want to be here. You would much rather be outside. So would I.
"Tell you what we will do. I will give you a quick, one-question pop quiz - simple true or false. If the entire class gets the correct answer, I will dismiss class and you can go outside until lunch time."
"One question! True or False! That should not be too hard," we all thought.
THE QUIZ
On the chalk board, Mr.Faulkes wrote:
"Wow!" we thought, "Piece of cake."
We quickly scribbled down our answers and turned them in.
Looking through our quiz papers, Mr.Faulkes said, "Well, you were unanimous. You all got the same answer."
"Right on!" we each thought, as we started to get up from our seats to leave.
"Sit down!" said Mr.Faulkes sternly. I said you answered unanimously. I did not say you answered correctly."
"What do you mean?" someone asked.
"You all answered 'False' but the correct answer is 'True.'" said Mr.Faulkes.
"How that be?" we all wondered.
THE LESSON
With that, Mr.Faulkes proceeded to give us the lesson for the day.
"How does multiplication work?" he asked the class.
Befuddled, we just sat there looking starried-eyed.
Mr.Faulkes went on to illustrate. "When multiplying A times B, you count up the scale A positions, and then repeat that B times.
With this he wrote on the board.
And he demonstrated.
1_2 3_4 5_7 6 8 9 10
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"Wait a minute," we objected. "You make a mistake. You have the 6 and the 7 reversed."
"Ah," Mr.Faulkes replied, "you assumed a particular numbering system. But I had not specified what numbering system to use."
EPILOGUE
I do not remember all of my high school teachers. I certainly do not remember everything I was taught in high school. In fact, I consciously remember only a few things.
But this instructor I remember. This class I remember. This particular day I remember. And the lesson I learned that day, I still remember it well.
Assumptions are necessary in the real world, but taken blindly they can lead to mistakes.
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