I can't believe I'm about to do this. I hate math and yet I'm about to suggest a mathematical read for anyone interested...
I'm taking a class called, "The Principles of Mathematics." I'm doing strangely well. So far it has been suspiciously easy. I got a perfect score on my last chapter test. Hmmm... Have I entered some strange world of existence where I understand math? Maybe reading counting books with my preschoolers is making me less math-stupid. :)
Anyway, we're reading a book called, "The Universe and the Teacup: The Mathematics of Truth and Beauty" by K.C. Cole. I've really been quite amazed at the relevance of math to the world, or more specifically, my world.
I'm going to toss out some interesting quotes and see if you're brain will make connections for your own world. Every chapter I can see connections to religion, politics church growth, being a preschool teacher and more. I would actually recommend this book to people in the church planting business. Of course it's not outright. It doesn't say, "Hey, do this and your church will grow." But it helps you put together interesting connections. Anyway, here's some quotes...
"The threat of a loss has a greater impact on a decision than the possibility of an equivalent gain..."
"As a general principle, people tend to grossly exaggerate the risk of any danger perceived to be beyond their control, while shrugging off risks they think they can manage."
"...a frog placed in hot water will struggle to escape, but the same frog placed in cool water that's slowly warmed up will sit peacefully until it's cooked. 'One cannot anticipate what one does not perceive', he says, which is why gradual accumulations of risk due to lifestyle choices are so often ignored. We're in hot water, but it's gotten hot so slowly that no one notices." - think about this in relation to your relationship with God...
"...not only does quanitity frequently determine quality, quantity (or, more broadly, scale) can affect the very notion of what is true, what is possible, what, indeed, exists."
"...quantitative changes can make huge qualitative changes."
"A different frame of reference can yield wildly different answers..."
"A difference is a difference only if it makes a difference."
"Noise in other words, is whatever you don't want to be where it is.... It's what you need to get rid of to see what we want to see, to learn what we need to learn."
"...artists learn to pay attention to the crumbs that other people are about to sweep under the rug. They learn to be good noticers. The same could be said of good teachers, good parents, effective politicians." - I would add...good pastors.
"For every decision to focus on one thing, a piece of context is lost. These trade offs are inevitable." - this has huge implications to me in MANY ways.
Anyway....
