At this rate...Cool confluence, coaxial

A Natural Pairing: Psychology and Math, that is, or Math and Psychology, if you prefer that order of operations. The logic inherent in both, or at least should be. Terms that we use routinely, take for granted, under-appreciate. That frequently start with "At this rate...", one that is just as frequently, at a similar rate, by a less-than-enthusiastic, tepid endorsement, such as "...we'll be late by an hour...he'll be bugging us with this blog for several more months, if these CV-19 rates don't decline soon..." But these statements, reflecting a certain state of mind, attitude, are based once again, in turn, on some type of estimation, calculation, which in turn, returns us to our reliance on math. Coming full circle. Need more convincing, more proof...

Living Proof: Absolute Value; Proofs are generally associated with the branch of math referred to as Geometry, credited to early Greek mathematicians, whereas the concept of absolute values is associated primarily with Algebra, an exercise that essentially counts either left or right from zero and dispenses of the negative when counting below zero. The branch of math I now refer to as 'Tricko-nometry' is that which is exemplified by when those who use absolute values in voting on and celebrating national budget busting bills that spend TRILLIONS, and find ways to celebrate..."this level of inflation is good for the economy because...we'll be paying this off with tomorrow's dollars...that these trillions won't add a penny to the deficit.." Fun with absolute values! What happened to the 'absolute value' we grew up with which in psychology is aspirational, represented by, for example, "You should never spend more than you have...you should save for tomorrow...(as in tomorrows generation)? Which apparently has become "don't worry about tomorrow, keep spending, it's what's bringing America back, investing in tomorrow's generations" As these same bill passers, members of the legislature cheered on by the Executive in Chief, hardly had enough time to 'unpack' (new buzz word) the one spending bill they passed before 'pivoting' (another fan favorite now) to focus on amassing debt that is of geometric proportions to the other, this on the so-called 'social front'. Just try to convince the children, tax payers of tomorrow land, the ones they (tax spenders) are (disingenuously) "investing in"...

To the Future, Back: Nope, not out of sequence (a type of math in which repetitions are allowed and order matters), I totally, absolutely meant to put it this way rather than the expected "Back to the Future" -- to demonstrate a 'proof' that: "Given A, Prove B", in the form here of "Given this rate of spending...the children of Gen? will, without a doubt, find themselves scratching their heads until they bleed", trying to figure out which branch and just what kind of twisted logic was applied, how they could derive a conclusion such as those in the foregoing paragraph (derivatives normally associated with Calculus) to come to such a faulty conclusion. They will likely come to the conclusion themselves, given that the today's figures, based on real numbers (not relying on absolute values) that 'they' were influenced more by a psychological condition known as DELUSIONAL or, at least (self-serving)  DENIAL! They will in turn find themselves packing up all the math texts that led to such conclusions and revert, go back to good ol' stone age arithmetic, or at least the reliable abacus.

       So, do you need any more convincing of the intimate relationship between math and psychology? Out of order?! Absolutely; go figure.