Tuesday, May 26, 2020

The Missouri Club

My freshman physics course had something called a Missouri Club. It was an informal gathering of students and instructors - usually graduate students. The students would have questions, the instructors would have explanations. Many explanations. They would explain things eight ways from Sunday.

The name of the club came from an old saying: "I'm from Missouri. Show me."

After watching the pictures of Memorial Day celebrations on the evening news last night, I felt despair. What is about to happen in this country was, until yesterday, largely avoidable.  Now it's inevitable. Brace for impact, Missouri. The coronavirus is about to show you.

You could have watched and learned from New York. It would have been nice if something good like that could have come from the example of New York, but it is not to be.

Another old line from my college days: There are basically three kinds of learning - precept, example, and experience. Experience is the best teacher, if you live through it.

And remember, New York's medical system frayed, but it didn't break. If your medical system breaks down under the stress, your experience will be worse than that of New York. I don't even want to think about what that will look like.

No comments:

Post a Comment