Member-only story
Is Heaven Just an Algorithm?
Pondering our eternal reward
I never heard the word “algorithm” when I was growing up. I heard of logarithms and stayed as far away from classes that taught that kind of stuff as I could. I listened to music that was called “rhythm and blues.” I always had to think before spelling the word “rhythm” because it was sort of like “rhyme.” Putting the letters “r” and “h” together like that always made me pause and think, unless we were talking about “Rh factors” pertaining to blood. For some reason, that stuck with me because I saw it once on Marcus Welby, M.D.
Just for the record, I am O positive.
I only first heard of the word “algorithm” a few years ago, and it left me scratching my head. Shouldn’t it be spelled “algorhythm?” The English language is funny that way. Just when you think you have it figured out, you realize you don’t have anything figured out. There are exceptions to every rule, and sometimes I’m not even sure there is a rule.
To be perfectly above board, I think the first time I actually encountered the word was when someone was complaining about how their writing wasn’t receiving the attention they thought it deserved. They blamed the algorithm. I had no idea what they were talking about. I had to look up what an algorithm even was.
