Note: This blog is a fictional event based on a true story which, as a byproduct, sort of gives a little insight into my thought process, I suppose.
I was getting late to class. Ever since the change to 5 minute passing periods on Tuesday and Thursday, I had to practically jog to reach my next class in time. I glanced up at the time. “Well, that isn’t great.” There were 3 minutes left until class started and I hadn’t even gotten halfway to my class. I made the next turn and looked at my watch one last time as I prepared to sprint through the hallway. As I took my first step, I noticed something off. I stopped moving and looked up. Nothing is unusual, people are walking normally, and I have a clear hallway in front of me. So why did I think I couldn’t just sprint through the hallway? Wait. A clear hallway. There is no one walking in front of me. They all are walking in the opposite direction from me. I look at the people walking towards me. “Nothing’s too off”, I think to myself. “Whatever. It must have been my imagination.” But of course, curiosity got the best of me. I look back up at the other students, and there is where I saw it. Each student’s eyes look glazed, and now that I look more closely, it almost seems like they are walking in a trance. Even though they are walking normally, it doesn’t look like they are conscious. “What is going on here?” The people walking towards me seem to get back to their normal state after they reach a certain point. And that point is one step in front of me. “Well, only one way to find out.” I take a step forward.
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“Huh? What was I doing?” I once again forgot what I was just thinking about, a common occasion for a brain that is easily distractible as mine. I look around at the hallway I am in. “It seems that I was going to my class”, although I took a different route to get there faster. Oh well. “What was I thinking about, though?” I know I can forget what I am just thinking about, but I don’t think I was ever this disoriented. I turn and look at the hallway. “It is just some people walking”. Again, I feel that strong sense of deja vu. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! “Oh, that’s the two-minute bell. Whatever, I’ll probably figure it out later.” But for now… “I’m going to be late!”, I reminded myself as I sprint towards my next class.
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A day had passed since I initially felt that odd sense, but I still couldn’t figure out what I was thinking about. Well, I should be focused on today’s math lesson, but this is too interesting to avoid. “Hmmm… maybe I’ll call it Case #3: A Rattled Mind or something”. Now that sounds like an interesting case name!
“So, in the case of Ax = λx, λ is the eigenvalue and x is the eigenvector.” I look up. Mrs. Moore, my math teacher, just introduced a new topic for today’s lesson. “Eigen? That sounds like a German word, but I can’t remember if we had learned what it meant.” I’ll probably just look it up later anyways.
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I, once again, was getting late to class. Maybe I shouldn’t have played those extra few notes in band, and should have just put away my instrument. I made a turn and I ended up at the end of a hallway. Just as I take a step forward, I glance to my left. Glazed over eyes. I remember something about eyes like that. I see one of my friends in the crowd of students. “Did you feel something off when you walked here?”
“No, why do you ask?” It seems that people in this hallway are fine, nothing happens to them.
“Nothing, I was just asking, for uh, science.” I started walking to the other side of the hall. Huh. Nothing is happening. It seems the only thing to do is become part of the experiment. And, in order to avoid that feeling of deja vu yesterday, I’ll just write something in my notebook, and keep it in my hands as I walk across this supposed border.
I took the step forward. I look at the notebook in my hand. The words on the page started making sense as I started remembering the events that took place within the last minute. Well, this experiment revealed that someone can remember the hallway, but I still don’t remember walking through the hallway. But, there is something else I can do. Even though I am not consciously active, my subconscious is still actively letting me walk. So if I just focus on something as I walk through the hallway, I might be able to gain some more clues!
I hold my pencil and notebook up, and once again step into the hallway. On the other side of the hallway, I look down at my notebook, already remembering what my goal was. And there I saw a bunch of arrows, all of varying lengths, but all pointed in the same direction. Ah, I see. This will be fun. “I know what to call this case. I shall call it Case #3: The Vectored Hallway!”
I will eventually get to writing the rest of the case, but when I will, that is another mystery in itself!
Hi Aarav, I was both intrigued and confused by your blog if I’m being honest. Going into it, I didn’t really know what to expect with the whole mystery aspect, but I think it was interesting how you combined your love of math for your love of mystery, which I didn’t even know you had! I’m really curious to hear how you came up with this story. To me it seems like a combination of real life events but also the mysterious story of the blank eyed people, which I still feel like I probably don’t understand completely. I’m curious to hear how you got into mystery writing, and what real life events may have influenced this story. Me personally, mystery is definitely my favorite type of writing because it keeps me on the edge of my seat. I think you should definitely write an extended version of this or a similar story, because I think that could be quite successful. Have a great weekend!
Hi Aarav!
I thoroughly enjoyed your blog. This was an intriguing entry not just because of its narrative, but because of its tie to greater math concepts. Obviously, there is a reference to vectors in the title and the illustration at the end of the narrative. Additionally, I looked up “Eigen.” A word meaning own, or its own. To this, I believe I have found your creative genius. You cleverly included this as a throw-away line in your story. Framing this word in the context of your math class hides its true significance to the meaning of your narrative. Before I get to what I am assuming is the meaning of your work, I should state something I found immersive yet confusing. The fact that everyone around you had eyes that were glazed over. This seems odd and I can not fit it into the gimmick of your story. I suppose I will have to keep reading if I want the answer. As for my theory, I believe you are demonstrating the oneness of vectors and their individualistic quality. However, I don’t think I am at an advanced enough level to understand why you could remember after reminding yourself, is this also connected to a vector principle?
Whatever the case, I enjoyed your blog!
Hi Aarav; I enjoyed reading your blog. Since I am in Linear Algebra with you, I understand what you were trying to achieve. I was excited to read your story because I like reading suspense. I like reading mysteries, and I enjoyed reading your story. The tension was well-written, and the story seemed to build up. I wanted how the people were all walking in the same direction with “glassy eyes.” I am curious what the significance was of the glassy eyes-was everyone hypnotized or possessed. Did this also mean they did not blink and just stared at you? I would like to read more of this story, so I suggest you place part 2 in the next blog. I want to know how this ends because even though I love reading mysteries, I like to have an ending that solves the enigma. Given the rapid pace of the material we cover, I think it’s imposing how you wrote this blog about a topic. I think you did an excellent job mixing math, your favorite subject, with this story. Keep up the suspense and make another blog 🙂