Jasper was a jovial, serious fellow. He often called himself an old man, pointing to his receding hairline in mock consternation. Equally often, sometimes without prompting, Jasper called himself a “simple man.” But dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and business shoes, or a suit, tie, and calculator watch, Jasper was a mild and ongoing source of confusion to the world – himself included.

“I’m confused,” Helen told him over dining-hall dinner. “Whenever we’re in a meeting and you’re just sitting there, I feel like you’re quietly judging me. But you seem so friendly and open now. I wish you could just hold up little signs saying what you’re thinking.”

Jasper leaned back and draped his left arm over the chair next to him, as if patting the back of some invisible friend. He even wiggled his fingers slightly, tickling this non-existent person – call him Joe – on the shoulder. Helen’s mossy eyes were locked on Jasper’s face and didn’t seem to notice. Alas, alack. But to her question – what did he think at meetings? Quietly judging? Sometimes, yes.

“Sometimes, yes, I do quietly judge in meetings,” Jasper said straight into Helen’s organic eyes. More organic than what they were eating for dinner, that was for sure. “But I usually express that sooner or later. And often if someone or thing is bugging me I’ll just think about some interesting problem in the background.” Like the Stable Matchings algorithm Jasper learned yesterday. But how to prove that it ever terminates?

Helen smiled, thanked Jasper for the explanation, and switched conversational gears while underneath the dining hall, myriad machinery maintaining temperature and ventilation rumbled quietly on.
Jasper was a jovial, serious fellow. He often called himself an old man, pointing to his receding hairline in mock consternation. Equally often, sometimes without prompting, Jasper called himself a “simple man.” But dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and business shoes, or a suit, tie, and calculator watch, Jasper was a mild and ongoing source of confusion to the world – himself included.

“I’m confused,” Helen told him over dining-hall dinner. “Whenever we’re in a meeting and you’re just sitting there, I feel like you’re quietly judging me. But you seem so friendly and open now. I wish you could just hold up little signs saying what you’re thinking.”

Jasper leaned back and draped his left arm over the chair next to him, as if patting the back of some invisible friend. He even wiggled his fingers slightly, tickling this non-existent person – call him Joe – on the shoulder. Helen’s mossy eyes were locked on Jasper’s face and didn’t seem to notice. Alas, alack. But to her question – what did he think at meetings? Quietly judging? Sometimes, yes.

“Sometimes, yes, I do quietly judge in meetings,” Jasper said straight into Helen’s organic eyes. More organic than what they were eating for dinner, that was for sure. “But I usually express that sooner or later. And often if someone or thing is bugging me I’ll just think about some interesting problem in the background.” Like the Stable Matchings algorithm Jasper learned yesterday. But how to prove that it ever terminates?

Helen smiled, thanked Jasper for the explanation, and switched conversational gears while underneath the dining hall, myriad machinery maintaining temperature and ventilation rumbled quietly on.