It’s amazing how few words can encompass life’s biggest themes.
Input equals output. For the computer savvy mind, this phrase is tangled in a web of words like modem, algorithm, and CPU-words that never cease to confuse me.
This phrase came to me in history class, and does not involve information processing systems. In an effort to teach on a deeper level, former high school history teacher, Coach Irwin, displayed short insightful phrases on his walls. “Input=output” “change over time” and other famous Irwinisms adorned the classroom.
In Coach Irwin’s case, the aphorism was directed towards his AP U.S. History students. The more you time you dedicate, the more benefit you reap when the AP exam rolls around.
“Input equals output” finds its origin in the first set of brothers, Cain and Abel. Here’s the Sparknotes version. Abel brought his prize lamb, and Cain brought the afterthoughts from his garden. In the end, Cain was cursed to be a restless wanderer of the earth (Genesis 4).
For physicists, the phrase comes in the form of Newton’s third law which states, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Basically, if you step on the end of a shovel, it will indeed give you a good whack in the face.
High school is no different. There are rules you could live without, faulty fire alarms and vicious geometry tests, and yes there are days when you feel invisible, but that’s when getting involved, improving your school and being noteworthy make the difference. When the input is a good attitude, hard work, yet plenty of time for no work at all, output is good memories that outshine the late nights, tedious rules and even a bad case of senioritis. You get what you give, and ultimately reap what you sow (2 Corinthians 9:6).
Whether in Computer Science, U.S. History, Physics, Bible times, present times, senior citizen or senior in high school, input equals output.