It’s Meta, Daddy…

64 Replies
PHOTO PROMPT © Jennifer Pendergast

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.

64 thoughts on “It’s Meta, Daddy…”

  1. granonine

    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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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      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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      1. granonine

        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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        1. trentpmcd Post author

          That is how I was taught, but it has been outdated since at least the ’80s. The “his/her” is actually outdated too (since the 90s)… Typically you would switch back and forth between pronouns.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 ;)

          Liked by 1 person

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  7. pennygadd51

    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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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      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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  11. Na'ama Yehuda

    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’ … ;)

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      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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      1. Na'ama Yehuda

        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.)

        Liked by 1 person

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      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 ;)

      Like

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  21. Bear

    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.

    Liked by 2 people

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              1. Bear

                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….

                Liked by 1 person

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