1+1+2 An Allegory

By Roger Balmer

         In a past age the village of Terrafirma was home to a very wonderful Man known to all as the Great Original Architect.  Basic to the beliefs He espoused and shared with others was the fundamental concept that one plus one equals two (1+1=2).  Unfortunately, this good Man met an untimely but necessarily tragic end to His existence in Terrafirma, but He left a group of His students behind, followers who made great sacrifices to share with as many of Terrafirma's inhabitants as possible the basic concept 1+1=2 and what it involved.  Schools were started everywhere and, in spite of persecution, flourished.

         Centuries passed and the village of Terrafirma waxed and waned in its prosperity and peace.  Life became more complicated and sophisticated; the inhabitants began either to neglect the basic concept 1+1=2 or to feel perhaps that they needed something a little more up to date in keeping with the new age in which they lived.

         There was, however, a small group of architects who looked upon the new thinking with dismay and sadness, and they had for the most part made great efforts to show in the construction of their buildings a personal living faith in the basic concept 1+1=2.  They knew it was a structurally sound principle and should never be abandoned, no matter how appealing the new thinking might appear.  And besides, the Founder of their architectural beliefs predicted one day the mighty earthquake should occur, which would lay waste virtually the entire city of Terrafirma.  It would make known eternally which buildings had their foundations constructed on the basic concept 1+1=2 and which did not.

         The group made attempts to enlighten and warn the population of the impending danger, and despite stiff opposition in some quarters and unbelievable apathy in others, they did gain two or three converts on occasion to their cause, but here and there they lost one or two also.

         Suddenly an unexpected and marvelous spurt in knowledge occurred.  Terrafirma became in a few short years unrecognizable, as science had provided the inhabitants with tools and machines that rendered their lives incomparably luxurious and leisurely.  The architectural schools, as a reflection of the changing society, began to modify their concepts and philosophies to fit into the new mold, and big new architectural schools with hundreds of thousands of students began springing up everywhere.  Those who still followed basic concept 1+1=2 set forth by the Great Original Architect became insignificant in size and influence in comparison with the new schools and with most of the old schools that were changing to be in step with the popular beliefs.

         One day the leading architect of one of the most prestigious schools in Terrafirma, a certain Dr. Heeza Ripoff, published a paper that set the city reeling.  He had invented a calculator that proved almost inconclusively that a new concept 1+1=3 was viable.  Also a new substance called Magic Glue had been developed that would hold together the new concept 1+1=3 in any practical application in construction one might wish to consider using it.  Overnight the new calculator and Magic Glue became the rage of Terrafirma.  The inhabitants bought them frantically, as they appeared to solve their architectural problems much as they desired them to be solved, and as an added incentive, they cost virtually nothing, or so it seemed.

         By now, those who followed the Great Original Architect's basic concept 1+1=2 were overwhelmed.  Most of them had fortified themselves with constant study and the practice of constructing buildings based on that concept, but the structures of Terrafirma as of the last few years were now virtually all built on the new concept 1+1=3 and Magic Glue.  In spite of their new-found dedication and worthiness, Terrafirma no longer accepted these old-line believers.  The solution to all the city's problems had apparently been discovered, and although building repairmen would still be needed for a while, eventually Terrafirma would be an architectural paradise, and all the buildings would have to be built based on the new concept 1+1=3 and Magic Glue.  Nothing else could be tolerated.

         One dark day, after lengthy and the most somber of deliberation, the mayor of Terrafirma and the city council, supported by findings worked out on Dr. Ripoff's little calculator and by the admonitions of the popular new Planning Commissioner (whose appearance strikingly resembled that of the Great Original Architect), decreed that all basic concept 1+1=2 buildings must be destroyed, as they proved a danger to Terrafirma and its structural stability.  The date was set for the execution of this decree.  Gangs of demolition experts and helpers were readied.  All Terrafirma prepared vigorously for the impending urban renewal.

         Then the mighty earthquake came.

Insight, September 28, 1976