An Uncertain Discussion

Lindsey Smith, Angie Booher, Taren Manley, Steven Novotny



Lindsey and Angie brainstorming
Photo:  Taren Manley 

Uncertainty: (a) the quality of being uncertain in respect of duration, continuance, etc.; liability to chance or accident.  Also, the quality of being indeterminate as to magnitude or value; the amount of variation in a numerical result that is consistent with observation (b) the state of not being definitely known or perfectly clear; doubtfulness or vagueness (c) Heisenberg's Principal of Uncertainty- a principle of quantum mechanics implying that certain pairs of observables can not both be precisely and simultaneously known, and that as one of any pair is more exactly defined the other becomes more uncertain (Oxford English Dictionary Online)

 

Scene:

 Lindsey, Steve N., Angie, and Taren are in room 21 (Steve and Matt's room) in Hamburg, Germany.  Lindsey and Angie are sitting on Steve's bed while Steve and Taren are sitting on Matt's.  They have gathered to brainstorm ideas on how to create their third blog for their Science in German Literature class.  It is rainy day in late March and they have all just finished eating a very fulfilling lunch. 

 

STEVE: What is blog three about?

 

TAREN: Uncertainty.

 

ANGIE: Uncertainty and change.

 

STEVE: Could you define uncertainty for me?

 

LINDSEY: Lack of … certainty.

 

(Laughter from all)

 

STEVE: Could someone define this better for me?

 

TAREN: It depends on the type of uncertainty.

 

ANGIE: Well I have to think…  It's… a lack of knowing what something is or should be doing.

 

TAREN: It's more than that.  It depends.  It's kind of more because it has to do with a person's outside environment.  Because it has an effect on their environment, everything is always changing creating uncertainty to those that live in said environment.

 

(All quiet)

 

STEVE: How are we going to do this?

 

LINDSEY: So what kind of uncertainty have we had on this trip?  We could have… for instance…food. Every time I’ve looked at a menu on our world travels I have experienced uncertainty. The menu is either in a different language or has cultural food that I am not familiar with. I could order a seafood dish and get a whole fish, eyes included, or a plate full of tentacles! Even when I am familiar with what I’m ordering, who knows if that ethnicity makes it the same way. I’ve tried several pasta carbonaras on this trip and every single one of them has been very different! So basically every time I pick up a menu, I’m taking a big chance. And having more experience doesn’t help that much, because it’s different every time.

 

ANGIE: 'Spicy, no spicy.'  They're pointing at the same item!  Is it spicy or not?!  I don't know if I am going to regret eating this later!

 

(Laughter)

 

LINDSEY: What could we do besides food?

 

ANGIE: What about the weather? Just look outside the window. Earlier today it was bright and sunny, now it’s raining.  In terms of the entire trip, we only knew what the weather would be like for Alaska and Hawai'i.

 

GIRLS:  We didn't know how to pack because we were going to so many countries.

 

LINDSEY: And even though we've seen a little of the weather for each place, it has only been one season and a few days in that season. We have no idea how it would change the next day or for different seasons.

 

ANGIE: I mailed my coat home from Hawai'i thinking I wouldn't need it anymore, what with all the hot and tropical locales.  What a mistake!  When we landed in Delhi, India, we were all dressed for warm weather.  But everyone else around us was dressed in coats and warm clothes.  And what would it be like during the monsoon season?  I can't even imagine what four solid months of rain would be like…  And issues that all this uncertain weather raises for health is a moot point.  (Hacks out a lung, everyone laughs.)

 

STEVE: Ok, are we doing weather or food?  We need to get moving here.

 

TAREN: Are we going to be done by four?

 

STEVE: We better be done by four.

 

 (Pause of silence)

 

TAREN: How about breaking it up?

 

STEVE: Ok, we should have three sections; one for each class.  Lindsey, what do you want to do? 

 

LINDSEY: I'll take food.

 

STEVE: Angie what do you want to do?

 

ANGIE: I'll do weather.

 

STEVE: Taren?

 

TAREN: I don't know.

 

STEVE: You can do anything; we'll just put a time limit on you. 

 

TAREN: Ok, what do you want me to do?

 

LINDSEY: Why don't you do the introduction?  (Looks at Steve)  And you do the conclusion.

 

ANGIE: How are we even supposed to be doing this blog?

 

LINDSEY: Who knows, we weren’t given very specific parameters, and it changes depending on who you ask and when.

 

STEVE: I can work something about that into the end.

 

ANGIE: How do we put this together?

 

TAREN: We will figure that out when we get the computer.

 

STEVE: Is there any specific way we want to end this?

 

TAREN: I don't know.

 

 

POSTSCRIPT

 

In an attempt to write about uncertainty, and after reading Copenhagen, by Michael Frayn, a play which deals with the subject, we decided to write our own little script of uncertain musings. Copenhagen deals with the Uncertainty Principle, where we “can never know everything about the whereabouts of a particle, or anything else…because we can’t observe it without introducing some new element into the situation, a molecule of water vapor for it to hit, or a piece of light – things which have an energy of their own, and which therefore have an effect on what they hit” (57). In our script we are trying to portray how we deal with uncertainty in every aspect of our lives, however deep we look into them. We have traveled to several countries around the world observing different biomes, but in the process realize how much more there is to see. And meanwhile, the world we just observed is changing. We will never truly get a grasp of it, and the paradox of life and of physics is that there will always be uncertainty.


Steve and Taren hard at work
Photo:  Lindsey Smith

Lindsey Smith
SmithLD at hiram.edu
Last upated 22 March 2008