epiphany and idiocy.

today i decided to walk to work. there's something calming about it:

walking is very natural to me [1]; i don't have to think about it, which means that i can think about other things ..

.. like math [2] and in particular, this one damned problem that i know i can solve ..

at any rate, when i reached a few blocks to the department, suddenly i had an epiphany: i think i solved it!

two thoughts came to mind simultaneously:

1. i'm a genius;
   it's such a simple idea, yet it's going to work!
2. i'm an idiot;
   how could it have taken me this long to think of this?

of course, writing it up and testing counterexamples (just in case) will have to wait. it's time to teach now .. \-:

[1] the same being true, of course, for anyone over the age of 2. q-:

[2] on the other hand, i seem unable to think about traffic light signals and ωeak-star topοlogies simultaneously. a few weeks ago i forgot that green means go (to the ire of a few motorists).