Supporting vs stifling curiosity

[Cooper John N <jcooper@BUCKNELL.EDU>]

On Sat, 9 Feb 2002, Brian Whatcott wrote:

> At 02:45 PM 2/7/02, Tina Fanetti wrote:
> > Now comes the silly part.
> >
> > How does the battery "know" that it is supposed to put out more current
> >  ...
>
> There is an interesting and educational question to be answered here.
> A purist might wail about the anthropomorphic turn of phrase, but the
> point remains that a messenger is sent from the battery, and when it
> returns, the battery is instructed to act appropriately. ...

   All thanks to Brian Whatcott for a civil and productive response to a
reasonable, if 'poorly posed', query.
   Decades ago when I was an undergrad at a 'small trade school in
Pasadena', the grad student (yes!) who taught frosh physics became
infuriated when I asked, in questioning equal and opposite reaction, how
the floor 'knew' just how much force to exert on my foot such that I
neither sank into said floor nor flew up from it.  He could not answer the
question and abused me for asking it.
   It was years later, in thinking about the stretching mode of vibrations
in chemical bonds and arrays of bedsprings that I came on a mental picture
that would then have rewarded my freshman curiosity and encouraged my
further, more thoughtful analysis.
   Well done, Brian.

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