
Where four and ten meet we have a flying four in common? Right?
Of course, Daddy.
So how does Santa get in here?
Down the chimney, of course!
I mean the diagram.
So do I.
But…
Look at the three convergent points…
Flying four, flying platform and flying Santa?
…and you have the answer.
But I don’t get this truck…
It is meta, Daddy, what is so hard about that?
And you say that is me in the middle, where everything intersects?
Of course, the provider of Christmas gifts.
I don’t follow…
It is hard explaining set theory to adults!
***
word count = 100
Friday Fictioneers is hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. This week’s prompt is here and uses a photo by @ Jennifer Pendergast. If you want to join or see other stories, go to the inlinkz linkup.
I just looked up “venn diagram.” I’m still at sea. Too old to learn to think in such terms, and I’ve never had a mathematical mind anyway. I do love the characterizations, and the child’s efforts to help dumb old dad “get it.”
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I have always had a mathematical mind, so… These types of diagrams are just ways to make logic visible, only this kid has his own brand of logic, so no amount of visualization will help poor Dad get it ;)
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I don’t think it would help me, either!
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lol, maybe not
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(I should say “his or her own logic” not “his” for this story)
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I was taught that “the masculine embraces the feminine” when there isn’t a specific gender involved. Just as “mankind”. includes the genders in all their present varieties. I still think it’s a better way to write, avoiding the cumbersome his/her model.
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That is how I was taught, but it has been outdated since at least the ’80s. The “his/her” is actually outdated too (since the 90s)… Typically you would switch back and forth between pronouns. For a long time I used “they”, but now the pronoun “they” has a meaning as specific as “he” or “she”. I have a lot of gender neutral ways of writing, but in a short comment like this, where forced to use one or the other, I want to punt ;)
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Me too :) I’m old enough to not care very much about all the “new” rules.
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Lol. I love that last line. Good one, Trent.
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Thanks! i think all kids feel that way at times, if they are really talking the logic of set theory or if they are making up their own logic ;)
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That’s exactly how I feel when my now grown-up son tries to explain things to me! You should hear him sigh!
Here’s mine!
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lol, I knew a few “kids” like that. Oh well, I’m the one sighing when I talk computers to my parents who are in their 80s…
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That was so clever and funny. I was wondering about that venn diagram, too, but couldn’t make sense of the pieces. Smart kid!
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When I read the real meaning of the venn diagram it all made sense (if I knew that was a lego dog…), but trying to cipher it out without a key… Thanks!
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That’s quite a kid. This had me chuckling.
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The kid is something special, alright. Glad you got a chuckle :)
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Dear Trent,
Poor Dad. It takes a child to explain technical things, doesn’t it? Love the dialogue.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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It does take a child to explain it, but when you throw in some of that kid-logic, I don’t think Dad has a chance of getting it…
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🤣🤣🤣
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What a great story! I haven’t a clue what it all means and yet it’s still amusing because of the realistic interaction of parent and child (btw, child felt like a girl rather than a boy; was that how you imagined them?) And what a wonderful line “Of course, the provider of Christmas gifts.”
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I have no idea what it means either… I didn’t really have gender in mind, but if I did, I think a little girl would be it – I can see a little girl using “Daddy” more than a little boy.
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So cute it made me chuckle! It sounds like a conversation I might have had with my son. :)
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I’m sure it all makes perfect sense to your son… Thanks.
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I’m still confused, I guess?
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I’m still a little confused as well – I got lost in some twist between set-theory logic and 8-year-old logic ;)
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I’m with Dad. Well done.
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I think I’m about as confused as he is as well… thanks.
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I keep thinking about how “meta” literally means “dead” in the Hebrew. Gives me no end of Freudian-slip energies on the part of the … well … you know, those who thought it will mean renewal but chose to call it ‘dead’ … ;)
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So it is now “Dead-Book”? lol. I’ve always used the word as meaning “above” or “about”, which is more the Greek version of the word. So meta-poetry is a poem about poetry… I also think of it as “outside”, but “outside with insight into, well, “inside”, which is sort of what the kid meant in this story. But I like “dead” better, particularly where a certain company is concerned ;)
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Hilarious, no?! I thought I didn’t see correctly and then I’m thinking, it is an internal prank by some of their members who do speak Hebrew … Or … who knows … perhaps the are saying, the queen is dead and the new reincarnation is the walking dead … ;)
(and of course, there is a totally different meaning in the Latin/English but … still … given the realities of Facebook, the choice of wording gets me shaking my head.)
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It is too funny
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:D
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Smile. It’s difficult explaining set theory or Venn diagrams to some bloggers too! Nice one.
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It is difficult, and when you add a child’s imagination/logic to the equation, it gets even harder. Thanks.
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Kids are way too smart for me these days!
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Me too….
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This is fabulous, Trent. I love the “Meta” reference. LOL! :D
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lol, that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the photo. Thanks, Colleen!
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Poor dad! Communication breakdown! 🤣🤣🤣 Brilliant, Trent!
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A total br4eakdown in communications… Thanks, Marina!
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😉
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Their logic at times can be confusing for those of a certain age (you know, above, say, 10)
Fun stuff that got a smile out of me.
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They can have their own logic, which makes sense in their universe, but in ours? After writing this, I pulled a book off of the shelf, set theory and logic – looks like the kid is getting into some advanced topics with his simple vann graph ;)
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I love the Dad trying to understand. It’s always fun when they know more than you!
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I think Dad will have to eventually admit that he is a bit out of his depth on this entire topic….
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:D Well… that’s one way to believe in Santa.
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Yep, using scientific charts and all…
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I really hadn’t thought to use set theory.
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Well, according to some of my math books, set theory is a superset of logic (see even using set theory to define it), so this kid is going meta-logic for the proof ;)
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I’m too insomnia drained to figure that one out. Well done, Trent.
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Daddy is on his fifth cup of coffee and still hasn’t figured it out…
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Quite! His son is a smart arse lol
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lol, yep
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I just tried to understand all the words around the tough bits !
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That’s a good way to do it.
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Makes sense to me
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It is pretty straight forward, I’m not sure why Daddy isn’t seeing it…
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That… that sounds like me explaining something (anything) to my Mom. Illiterate as she was. She never seemed to understand anything beyond basic survival. Great story! Have a great week.
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lol, sounds like you were frustrated a little too often… Thanks! Hope you have a great week as well.
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I thought about writing a book “Life with Mother”, but it would be such a huge tragedy that I know it would never sell. LOL!
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You never know, sometimes it is those tragedies that sell the best…
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could be… could be…
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I never read it, but I think Angela’s Ashes was a series of depressing anecdotes…
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I haven’t read that one because I heard that… and at the time it came out, I just couldn’t bear to read anything depressing. Maybe I’ll check out the ebook while I’m supposed to be here on bedrest. I’m going stir crazy… 2 more days and counting….
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