Mark Margolis Monologues

You remember Archimedes of Syracuse, eh? The king asks Archimedes to determine if a present he's received is actually solid gold. Unsolved problem at the time. It tortures the great Greek mathematician for weeks, insomnia haunts him and he twists and turns in his bed for nights on end. Finally, his equally exhausted wife-she's forced to share a bed with this genius-convinces him to take a bath to relax. While he's entering the tub, Archimedes notices the bath water rise. Displacement, a way to determine volume, and that's a way to determine density, weight over volume. And thus, Archimedes solves the problem. He screams "Eureka" and he is so overwhelmed he runs dripping naked through the streets to the king's palace to report his discovery. Now, what is the moral of the story?

Wrong! The point of the story is the wife. Listen to your wife, she'll give you perspective. Meaning, you need a break. You have to take a bath or you'll get nowhere. There would be no order only chaos. Go home, Max, and you take a bath.

The Ancient Japanese considered the Go board to be a microcosm of the universe. Although when it is empty it appears to be simple and ordered, in fact, the possibilities of gameplay are endless. They say that no two Go games have ever been alike. Just like snowflakes. So, the Go board actually represents an extremely complex and chaotic universe. And that's the truth of our world, Max. It can't be easily summed up with math. There's no simple pattern.

Hold on! Slow down! You're losing it! You have to take a breathe. Listen to yourself. You're connecting a computer bug with one you might've had and some religious hogwash. If you want the number 216 in the world, you will be able to find it everywhere. 216 steps from your street corner to your front door, 216 seconds you spend riding on the elevator. When your mind becomes obsessed with anything you filter everything else out and find that thing everywhere. 320, 450, 22, whatever. You've chosen 216 and you'll find it everywhere in nature. But, Max, as soon as you discard scientific rigour, you are no longer a mathematician, you're a numerologist.

That is the truth of our world, Max. It can't be easily summed up with math.