We are all trapped by our genes. Traits are handed down the family line over which we have no control – from our forefathers to our father to us, and then on to our children as well. There is no escape! (Well, until they figure out a way in which we can choose our parents that is). One trait that stood out in my father, that was also alive and well in his, was a belief that, �No maths answer should ever be given without a preceding lesson on the complete A to B of the subject that had given rise to the question�. In other words they were both incapable of just giving you the answer to the question on your maths homework that had innocently asked for a number to be entered into a very small blank box. We all made the mistake at some point, of asking for that quick fix, and we all paid the price. David had made such a mistake with Gonga once, only to spend the entire evening discussing the first principles of astro-physics. I had already decided in my education that to guess the answer and do the time in detention was far less painful than asking for Dad�s or Gonga�s answer to a particular maths question. Still, I was lucky enough to be there in the lounge at The Gap on the night that Tom came face to face with the family gene. He was motoring through his maths homework until he hit that block. There on the page was an empty box just begging for an entry that would complete his homework and usher in a whole night of freedom and entertainment. He did what we all did at least once. Easy he thought, ask Dad for the answer. �Dad, what�s the answer to A+B� Tom asks with pen poised to write down the quick reply. Dad looks up from his work on the dinning room table in that I�m glad you asked me that Tom look. Well then it began, before us all lay an evening devoted to high end logic that is algebra. A subject not only understood by Dad but embraced with a passion. He presented his lecture in a way that I felt to understand algebra was to understand life itself. Tom just stood there listening and sifting through the words he was hearing for that one syllable that would allow him to complete the box in question. None came � only a question to his question. So now, �What do you think A+B is Tom� Dad asks of his pupil – �AB?� Tom, �Nope� Dad – �2B� Tom, �Nope� Dad – �BA� Tom, �Nope� Dad � �2A� Tom, �Nope� Dad. Tom had run out of possible combinations and I could see that he was beginning to contemplate bringing C into the answer soon if he couldn�t find a combination of A�s & B�s that Dad would accept as correct. Dad could see that his pupil had been stretched to the point that he could finally reveal the answer that would bring in that great white light that is enlightens. Dad�s face lights up as he reveals �Tom the answer to A+B is A+B. Now do you see!�. Tom just stood there, eyes alert, mouth slightly open. For a moment I thought that he HAD seen the light, until he said �That�s stupid. Why would you ask for an answer to a question where the answer is the question�. Good one Tom – I thought. So now when my children ask me for an answer to a maths question � you guessed it � I just tell them straight so that I can quickly get back to watching my football on TV.
