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Professor Schmaltzenberger's Equation - Chapter 2
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StarMountainKid
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30 June 2012
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Professor Schmaltzenberger’s Equation – Chapter 2
Professor Schmaltzenberger woke the next morning not knowing where he was. He sat up in bed and looked around the room. Slowly his memories of his location and who he was returned to his mind. As he slowly got out of bed and started to dress, a thought nagged at his mind. There was something he should remember, but exactly what it was he couldn’t quite grasp.
Just then, Otto knocked on the door. The Professor looked up. “Professor, are you dressed?” he asked.
“Yes, come in, whoever you are,” answered the Professor.
Otto entered the bedroom and helped the Professor find his shoes, all the while glancing around the room hopefully. “There you are,” Otto said after he had tied the Professor’s shoelaces. “Now, how about some breakfast?”
“Breakfast, yes,” the Professor agreed vaguely. “But before that, there’s something I should be remembering. Do you know what it is?”
“No,” replied Otto, innocently “Whatever it is I’m sure you’ll remember it later.”
“Yes, I suppose so,” said the Professor.
The Professor and Otto left the bedroom and entered the kitchen where Otto prepared breakfast. The Professor ate thoughtfully and returned to his study. He sat at his cluttered desk, piled with objects and notes the Professor had never seen before, and tried to remember something. This sitting and thinking went on for quite a long time, so we’ll switch to another scene.
The other scene is Otto desperately searching the Professor’s bedroom. He searched here, he searched there. He even searched the book in which the piece of paper containing the Equation of Time resided between its pages. However, in Otto’s over-enthusiasm, his search of this particular book was not thorough enough. Greedy men are oftentimes not interested in details, so are they good searchers. They are too quick in their greed. Otto did not find what he was looking for, but that did not discourage him.
After an hour or so of trying, Professor Schmaltzenberger suddenly remembered something. Conveniently for him and for our story, he remembered hiding a piece of paper in a book. A piece of paper that was very important for some reason. Of course, he hadn’t remembered what was written on this small piece of paper, but the fact that he did remember something made the Professor smile in anticipation. He thought, if he could remember this something, perhaps he could remember something else, as well.
This was a breakthrough. Now the Professor’ mind worked hard. First he had to remember that he had remembered something. This was his first difficult mental task, but after a while he got used to the idea.
Remembering that you had remembered something is pretty easy for most of us. In fact, we don’t even have to remember that we remembered, all we have to do is the second remembering part. But for the Professor this was something special. He thought, “Maybe if I can remember to remember, I can even remember to remember to remember!”
I won’t go on with this, because it’s starting to sound like gibberish. Nevertheless, this is the line of thought that was in the Professor’s mind. He worked out in his head all sorts of pathways of remembering remembering and remembering remembering remembering, and finally came to work out a startling new Theory of Mind. This new Theory would have had quite an impact on the world in general, and would have gone a long way in explaining a lot of things that confuse most of us about the mysterious workings of our own minds. If the Professor could have found a scrap of paper on his desk large enough to have written it all down, we would all have been better off. For instance, the divorce rate would have gone way down, children would be a lot easier to live with and we’d always remember where our car keys are.
Unfortunately, the Professor had misplaced his notebook, which was large enough to have served nicely, and also he had misplaced his trusty pencil again, which would also have served nicely. So, the Professor soon forgot all about his new and startling Theory of Mind, and we must continue with our confused lives, and somehow be satisfied with them. In any event, we’d probably be too lazy to have put the Professor’s Theory of Mind into action anyway, if he had written it all down, so, nothing would have changed, and we’d still be trying to muddle through life by our normal, absurd method, which is, of course, no method at all.
Anyway, the result of all this was that even though the Professor had already forgotten his new Theory of Mind, he had remembered the important scrap of paper. He got up from his desk and returned to his bedroom, where, after a few misses, he opened the book in which he had placed what he was looking for. The Professor gazed at the equation that he had written down. “I must do something with this, it could be very dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands.”
Just at that very moment, Otto entered the room.
“Otto,” the Professor said, “bring the car around, I’m leaving for a while.”
Surprised at this statement, and wondering how to dissuade the Professor, Otto said, “But Professor, are you sure you remember how to drive?”
“Yes, of course I remember how to drive! It seems I used to drive all the time.” The Professor looked at Otto closely. “I’m starting to remember things. It’s odd, really. It seems I’ve been lost in a fog for ever so long. I don’t understand it.”
“That’s good, Professor. I’ll get the car, but where are you going?” Otto asked, nervously.
“Oh…yes where…” the Professor said, mainly to himself. He looked up at Otto. “I suppose I should have a destination.” A little confused now, he sat down on his bed. “Where do you think I should go?”
“I think you shouldn’t go anywhere,” replied Otto. “You’ve not wanted to leave the house for a long time, Professor. Why do you want to leave now?”
The Professor pondered this question for a moment. He knew he must do something with the equation on the scrap of paper in his pocket, but he wasn’t sure what. Suddenly he exclaimed, “I know! I must go and see Dr. Reinhold!”
“Dr. Reinhold?” Otto asked.
“Yes, Dr. Reinhold! “He is the only one who can help me!”
Now, this Dr. Reinhold was a experimental physicist whom the Professor had known and worked with many years in the past.
“But, we don’t even know where Dr. Reinhold lives,” exclaimed Otto. “It’s been so many years…”
“Well, we must find him, Otto,” the Professor said determinedly. “Go and look up his address somehow and and let me know when you find it. I’ll be in my study.”
Later, in his study, the Professor was again wondering just who this Otto fellow was. He couldn’t quite remember where he came from, or for how long he had been around. Even though he was starting to remember some things, this was another example of his not remembering, and it scared him.
Now the Professor had an idea. “I’ll just call Reinhold on the phone, myself!” he said aloud, and slapped his forehead in disgust. He looked around, and found a telephone sitting on his desk half-covered with debris. He cleared this away and picked up the receiver and thought, “I wonder what his number is?” Thinking carefully, he knew he should have an address book somewhere, even though he couldn’t remember it. He looked through the drawers of his desk until he found one. It was old and tattered. The Professor leafed through the pages until he found Reinhold’s name with his telephone number written down along side it. A sudden chill went through him. He couldn’t remember speaking to anyone besides Otto for a long time, and wondered how it would be to speak to someone else again.
Putting this thought aside, he dialed the number. After a moment he heard a female voice on the other end said, “Hello, Doctor Reinhold’s office.”
“I’d like to speak to Doctor Reinhold, please,” the Professor said softly.
“I’m sorry, Doctor Reinhold is busy on another line, can you wait?” the female voice asked.
“Yes I can wait,” the Professor replied. The Professor held the receiver tightly to his ear and drummed his fingers nervously on his desk.
The person speaking to Dr. Reinhold on the other line was Otto.
Professor Schmaltzenberger woke the next morning not knowing where he was. He sat up in bed and looked around the room. Slowly his memories of his location and who he was returned to his mind. As he slowly got out of bed and started to dress, a thought nagged at his mind. There was something he should remember, but exactly what it was he couldn’t quite grasp.
Just then, Otto knocked on the door. The Professor looked up. “Professor, are you dressed?” he asked.
“Yes, come in, whoever you are,” answered the Professor.
Otto entered the bedroom and helped the Professor find his shoes, all the while glancing around the room hopefully. “There you are,” Otto said after he had tied the Professor’s shoelaces. “Now, how about some breakfast?”
“Breakfast, yes,” the Professor agreed vaguely. “But before that, there’s something I should be remembering. Do you know what it is?”
“No,” replied Otto, innocently “Whatever it is I’m sure you’ll remember it later.”
“Yes, I suppose so,” said the Professor.
The Professor and Otto left the bedroom and entered the kitchen where Otto prepared breakfast. The Professor ate thoughtfully and returned to his study. He sat at his cluttered desk, piled with objects and notes the Professor had never seen before, and tried to remember something. This sitting and thinking went on for quite a long time, so we’ll switch to another scene.
The other scene is Otto desperately searching the Professor’s bedroom. He searched here, he searched there. He even searched the book in which the piece of paper containing the Equation of Time resided between its pages. However, in Otto’s over-enthusiasm, his search of this particular book was not thorough enough. Greedy men are oftentimes not interested in details, so are they good searchers. They are too quick in their greed. Otto did not find what he was looking for, but that did not discourage him.
After an hour or so of trying, Professor Schmaltzenberger suddenly remembered something. Conveniently for him and for our story, he remembered hiding a piece of paper in a book. A piece of paper that was very important for some reason. Of course, he hadn’t remembered what was written on this small piece of paper, but the fact that he did remember something made the Professor smile in anticipation. He thought, if he could remember this something, perhaps he could remember something else, as well.
This was a breakthrough. Now the Professor’ mind worked hard. First he had to remember that he had remembered something. This was his first difficult mental task, but after a while he got used to the idea.
Remembering that you had remembered something is pretty easy for most of us. In fact, we don’t even have to remember that we remembered, all we have to do is the second remembering part. But for the Professor this was something special. He thought, “Maybe if I can remember to remember, I can even remember to remember to remember!”
I won’t go on with this, because it’s starting to sound like gibberish. Nevertheless, this is the line of thought that was in the Professor’s mind. He worked out in his head all sorts of pathways of remembering remembering and remembering remembering remembering, and finally came to work out a startling new Theory of Mind. This new Theory would have had quite an impact on the world in general, and would have gone a long way in explaining a lot of things that confuse most of us about the mysterious workings of our own minds. If the Professor could have found a scrap of paper on his desk large enough to have written it all down, we would all have been better off. For instance, the divorce rate would have gone way down, children would be a lot easier to live with and we’d always remember where our car keys are.
Unfortunately, the Professor had misplaced his notebook, which was large enough to have served nicely, and also he had misplaced his trusty pencil again, which would also have served nicely. So, the Professor soon forgot all about his new and startling Theory of Mind, and we must continue with our confused lives, and somehow be satisfied with them. In any event, we’d probably be too lazy to have put the Professor’s Theory of Mind into action anyway, if he had written it all down, so, nothing would have changed, and we’d still be trying to muddle through life by our normal, absurd method, which is, of course, no method at all.
Anyway, the result of all this was that even though the Professor had already forgotten his new Theory of Mind, he had remembered the important scrap of paper. He got up from his desk and returned to his bedroom, where, after a few misses, he opened the book in which he had placed what he was looking for. The Professor gazed at the equation that he had written down. “I must do something with this, it could be very dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands.”
Just at that very moment, Otto entered the room.
“Otto,” the Professor said, “bring the car around, I’m leaving for a while.”
Surprised at this statement, and wondering how to dissuade the Professor, Otto said, “But Professor, are you sure you remember how to drive?”
“Yes, of course I remember how to drive! It seems I used to drive all the time.” The Professor looked at Otto closely. “I’m starting to remember things. It’s odd, really. It seems I’ve been lost in a fog for ever so long. I don’t understand it.”
“That’s good, Professor. I’ll get the car, but where are you going?” Otto asked, nervously.
“Oh…yes where…” the Professor said, mainly to himself. He looked up at Otto. “I suppose I should have a destination.” A little confused now, he sat down on his bed. “Where do you think I should go?”
“I think you shouldn’t go anywhere,” replied Otto. “You’ve not wanted to leave the house for a long time, Professor. Why do you want to leave now?”
The Professor pondered this question for a moment. He knew he must do something with the equation on the scrap of paper in his pocket, but he wasn’t sure what. Suddenly he exclaimed, “I know! I must go and see Dr. Reinhold!”
“Dr. Reinhold?” Otto asked.
“Yes, Dr. Reinhold! “He is the only one who can help me!”
Now, this Dr. Reinhold was a experimental physicist whom the Professor had known and worked with many years in the past.
“But, we don’t even know where Dr. Reinhold lives,” exclaimed Otto. “It’s been so many years…”
“Well, we must find him, Otto,” the Professor said determinedly. “Go and look up his address somehow and and let me know when you find it. I’ll be in my study.”
Later, in his study, the Professor was again wondering just who this Otto fellow was. He couldn’t quite remember where he came from, or for how long he had been around. Even though he was starting to remember some things, this was another example of his not remembering, and it scared him.
Now the Professor had an idea. “I’ll just call Reinhold on the phone, myself!” he said aloud, and slapped his forehead in disgust. He looked around, and found a telephone sitting on his desk half-covered with debris. He cleared this away and picked up the receiver and thought, “I wonder what his number is?” Thinking carefully, he knew he should have an address book somewhere, even though he couldn’t remember it. He looked through the drawers of his desk until he found one. It was old and tattered. The Professor leafed through the pages until he found Reinhold’s name with his telephone number written down along side it. A sudden chill went through him. He couldn’t remember speaking to anyone besides Otto for a long time, and wondered how it would be to speak to someone else again.
Putting this thought aside, he dialed the number. After a moment he heard a female voice on the other end said, “Hello, Doctor Reinhold’s office.”
“I’d like to speak to Doctor Reinhold, please,” the Professor said softly.
“I’m sorry, Doctor Reinhold is busy on another line, can you wait?” the female voice asked.
“Yes I can wait,” the Professor replied. The Professor held the receiver tightly to his ear and drummed his fingers nervously on his desk.
The person speaking to Dr. Reinhold on the other line was Otto.
peace
Mark