... Of Lives Lived Forwards, But Always Understood Backwards.

         My cousin uses this old saw as his Skype status: Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards! It is a slightly different interpretation of another adage that defines hindsight as the only perfect and true vision. Of course, the underlying philosophic in both maxims is that life and events along its path can only ever be put into their correct perspectives through reflection. On first gander, it reads like an oxymoron that wistfully wishes life was the other way around – live backwards, but understood forwards. However, one only has to consider some past, ostensibly cataclysmic life event to realize that it really was not that big a deal. Hmm! Try explaining to a lovelorn teenager that being rebuffed by the object of their affections is really not the end of the world. One would have a better chance explaining the science behind the blue hue of the sky. It is not because the light bouncing off the oceans which are blue but, rather has to do with how light disperses as it travels through the atmosphere. It can get quite involved but you would need to basically understand the red/blue shift in light – more commonly known as the Doppler shift (The very same doppler abused by television meteorologists). Ever wonder why they are called meteorologists, rather than weather forecasters – since theirs is not an exact or precise science but rather mere machine learned guesswork. Well, I'd rather take this little sojourn and dissect light dispersion, meteorologists, and machine learning than deal with a lovelorn teenager. Been there, done that. It will all make sense, in a minute, and should all fit into this overall concept of the efficacy of perfect vision in hindsight.

         Anyway, onto light emanating from the sun. The reason the sky appears blue is due to both how humans perceive light, and how light disperses through the atmosphere. The basic assumption is that the sun shines white light – which is a mixture of all the colors of the spectrum – and each color travels across space at a specific wavelength. The human eye responds most strongly to the red, blue, and green wavelengths of the color spectrum. The visible part of the color spectrum ranges from red through orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, to violet. I use the mnemonic ROY Gave Ben In Violet to remember the visible spectrum from largest to smallest wavelength. This is the reason why emergency medical vehicles (ambulances, firetrucks) run with red flashing lights, while cop cars tend to run with the red and blue flashers. This is because those colors make them more visible during all light conditions, and helps with depth perception. They rely on the red/blue shift or the Doppler effect – which makes light appear red as it shifts away, and appear blue as it moves towards a particular point. Therefore, the sky appears blue because the shorter blue wavelengths are dispersed more strongly than the red as the sunlight passes through the atmosphere. It gets complicated and has some fantastic mathematics attached to it. I can easily recall the color spectrum (vital for any graphic designer to know) but, had to look up the Tyndall effect which details the mathematics of how different wavelengths of light disperse through the atmosphere. Now, this many decades later all my High School physics is beginning to make sense. Can you see the picture yet?

             Why do we call television weather-casters meteorologists? What do meteors have to do with the weather? I think the initial sense was to give the pseudoscience of guessing the weather based on atmospheric patterns some of the gravitas of a real science. To this end, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) set an official description of a meteorologist as an individual with specialized education who uses scientific principles to explain, understand, observe or forecast the earth's atmospheric phenomena and/or how the atmosphere affects the earth and life on the planet. See what I mean by giving gravitas to a pseudoscience? The AMS further delineates meteorologists into television weather-casters, academics, and forensic meteorologists. Most dictionaries define meteorology as a science that deals with the atmosphere and its related phenomena, including climate and weather. I am still fascinated by both the meteor root, when joined with the suffix -ology which means study of or the science of. So I dug up the etymology of meteor which is “a thing in the air, noun use of neuter of metéōros raised in the air, equivalent to met- met-+ eōr- (variant stem of aéirein to raise) + -os adj. Suffix” This led to a meteorology being the science of something raised in the air, and since weather is essentially of the air – I will have to concede that meteorology has everything to do with weather and weather-related phenomena. However, I will not stoop as low as to consider those television weather-casters as actual scientists. I can just as easily prognosticate the weather by stepping outside my door every morning. I mean, any pretty face can read a teleprompter and point at a green screen. That is about the sum total of all the science involved in the broadcast meteorology. Understand that I am dissecting the pseudo-science of meteorology only to make this larger point: At the time, I complained bitterly about the precious many hours of my youth spent learning how to use a dictionary. As silly as it might sound, most folks do not know how to use a dictionary to define a word. Most folks use a dictionary like a thesaurus and simply substitute a word for another without gaining a conceptual understanding of the original word. That is a topic for another day.

             Anyway, most of the time, television meteorologists even get the localized weather wrong as their knowledge is based on reading various computer generated models. Which brings me to machine learning. It sounds like serious science when some local broadcast (usually celebrity) meteorologist mentions looking at various computer models to figure out the following days' weather patterns. But, it all is really just machine learning. See, machine learning is basically collecting a large data sample and then, trying to predict how a subject will react to certain stimuli. In the case of weather, they have collected and collated large amounts of recorded data on temperature, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, atmospheric pressure, the amount of sunlight based on the tilt (angle) of the earth (determines seasons – but, you knew that already:-) ) and fed all this into huge databases. These databases are then manipulated to spit out the computer models they are so proud of mentioning during their forecasts. In the old days, before computers, most farmers relied on the Farmers' Almanac which was a long range weather forecast used to plan for field preparations, plating, weeding, and harvesting. This was the basis of machine learned computer based systems as almanacs were based on observed, and recorded weather patterns of certain farming zones. Nowadays, this is where machine learning comes into play as computers are programmed to spot patterns based on the prevailing data. Warm winds blowing west off the equatorial coast of Afrika are energized by the warm waters in the Atlantic ocean and pick up circulation and speed to spawn tornadoes over central and North America.

                      Exactly where the winds will buffet the Americas is influenced by the Coriolis effect – which is basically wind shear caused by the earth's rotation. The Coriolis effect stops winds blowing in a straight line. Ever wonder what happens to ants during a flood? Ever wonder how birds, rodents, and small animals know when a severe storm or, even a tornado is imminent? Their innate survival instincts have a more advanced early warning system than any computer man will ever build – it's their ability to detect minute and dramatic changes in atmospheric pressure. These are things I learned during those seemingly boring, long, and tedious geology lessons. I recall complaining about having to attend a basic storm chasing course as part of an assignment for an Astronomy class. I still know how to look at cloud formations and determine the direction of a storm, or how to accurately (within 15minutes) determine the amount of time remaining before sunset, based on the sun's position in the sky. At the time, I complained bitterly about having to give up part of an afternoon of chasing skirts to learn silly storm chasing basics … now, when I confidently say we can finish the round as the storm is going around us they can rely on my word. There is a few that believe I am imbued with some indigenous talent of weather forecasting - if only they appreciated that it is because I was coerced into paying attention in an extra credit class in College. Is that illustration of the efficacy of hindsight beginning to take better shape?

                  I used all the examples to illustrate the point in my cousin's choice of status. The point is neither necessarily on the misdirected impulses nor the misguided emotions of a misspent youth. I think the point is not only to reflect on the lessons that can be gleaned from history, but to also apply those same lessons to present and all future endeavors. The underlying philosophic of not only reflecting on, but also putting into the correct perspective the life lessons learned from past exertions, escapades, and experiences. There is always a certain amount of schadenfreude for every heartbroken, lovelorn teenager, when they realize, years down the road, that the object of their affections and fantasies was never all that and a bag of chips. It is especially more pronounced when life has been unkind to the object of one's teenage affections … you know the ugly duckling has matured into a beautiful swan and Adonis has degenerated into a toothless, obese, misshaped mess. Or, that the teenage queen has degenerated into a rotund, saggy breasted, old hag and teenage zit-face has not only matured but, filled out the lanky, awkward frame into a veritable Adonis. You get the drift? The important thing is how grown swan and grown Adonis treat grown toothless mess and mature old hag. If they would have well learned the lessons from their own youth, then, they would be kind, open, caring, and just absolutely munificent towards the 'tormentors' of their youth. That is the abiding philosophic and lesson contained in these two old saws on hindsight and vision. The world needs to understand that physical beauty is not only fugacious, but is always a secondary consideration to character in the longevity of human relations. The true substance of friendships is to be found inside the person, as the outside is at the mercy of the weather and other life events. However, the most important aspect of this adage is to remember to be kind to yourself. I believe that if one can be kind to themselves, then, they would find it easier to transfer kindness and other emotions onto others. So, be kind to yourself!

                    Here's today's thought (even though I doubt the veracity of its attribution, I still like how it makes you think of the important things in your life): "When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money." Cree Prophecy.

Have fun always!!

P.S. Leave a comment – so I know you passed by here.