Musings 20--The Unsolvable Mathematical Equation

Many years ago, when I was a school teacher, I was working with a fellow who later lost his teaching certificate for messing around with minors. Beer and porn tapes were his offense. It was, no doubt, a very bad case of judgment on his part. Suffice it to say, he moved away and was never heard of again.

This popped into my head last night when I heard a fellow talking about the only science that is exact is mathematics. He was trying to show that science and creationism are about the same. Well they are not, but this is not what I want to write about.

One day in the teacher's lounge someone came up with this premise and the fellow with the bad judgment dubbed it, "The Unsolvable Mathematical Equation.

I present it here for eveyone who reads this to ponder:

Three salesmen are attending a seminar. Since they are good friends they decide to split the cost of a room. (Now you must thing in 1970-80 prices.) The counter clerk says no problem. The cost is $30 for one night for a three bed room. (There is not such a thing, you say. Yes, there is because two of my buddies and I rented one for a weekend in North Carolina when I was in the Marine Corps.) Each guy forks over $10 and they go off to their room. When the night manager arrives at the desk he sees that the clerk has over-charged the three salesmen by $5. He tells the bell hop to take $5 to the salesmen's room, which he does. He knocks on the door and the three guys are there. He tells them that they were overcharged for the room and hand one of the salesmen five one dollar bills ($5). The guys are amazed that anyone would give them back money. So they each keep a dollar apiece and give the bellhop $2.

Ok, you with me so far? Now, here comes the kicker. If each of the guys forked over $10 earlier and now they have gotten $1 back, then, they have each paid $9 for the room. Now stay with me because this is where it gets tricky.

Three times nine is 27. (3 X 9 = 27) Basic math, right? Good, now let us rehash. They gave $30 initially for the room. Each one has now paid $9 for the room. They gave the bellhop $2.
Thus 3 X 9 = 27 plus 2 (bellhop tip) equals...29!!! What happened to the other $1.

Thus, the "Unsolvable Mathematical Equation." So I guess when you really get right down to it there is no pure science in the world. Don't you love this stuff...I do.

It goes back to the old question, "If God can do all things, can he make a rock so big he can't lift?" I guess it is what I have known all along. Some things just don't add up.