Reflection

Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe

In a dimly lit room, sat I thinking
My eyes were focused, lids unblinking,
My left hand was holding in place,
A dark screen that reflected my face.

The cold rain on my window splattered,
Hailstones here and there were scattered,
A button I pressed, the screen then glowed,
And asked me to input my passcode.

Hearing footsteps outside the door,
Three soft knocks that I could ignore,
I quickly pressed one-two-three-four
And five and six, and then no more.

In the distance I heard a beeping
But my eyes would not be peeping
The only objects that would be seen
Were displayed clearly on my screen.

The sun did set and it grew dimmer
Text on my screen began to shimmer,
The active tab I briefly stowed,
And set my device to night mode.

Brightness dimmed, I resumed browsing,
Current affairs and tales arousing,
On a picture that someone had shared,
I clicked “like” as though I cared.

Then again, I heard a knocking,
The doorknob was gently rocking,
Staunchly at my seat I stayed,
Annoyance rising in my head.

Then the sounds began a new
A single knock, then quite a few
Muffled voices then I head,
And thought to myself, this is absurd.

“This is urgent!” was someone shouting,
And the urgency was I doubting,
But I could ignore no more,
And therefore headed to the door.

Hastened unlatching, an eerie creaking,
For the encroacher began I seeking
Since there I perceived not a soul,
Only silence, dark as coal.

As turned I, there blew a gust
Spraying me with rain and dust,
Hastily did I shut the door,
And did the latches, furthermore.

Suddenly, began my body to tense
As my feet had come to sense
That since entering through the door,
I had been walking on no floor.

Everything around me grew dark,
Of visible light, was there no spark,
Yet my mind felt no galling
Sensation that I was now falling.

Suspended in darkness, yet nowhere bound,
Began I waving my hands around,
Until something did I touch
And lit up the area, thanks very much.

But then saw I my body’s station,
And it was is another location,
Through a window was it seen,
Sitting on my chair as I had been.

I knew I wasn’t out of my room,
Nor in it was I, did I assume,
But the window could only mean,
I was now stuck inside my screen.

Here I wait out the flow of time,
Occasionally writing words of rhyme,
Observing myself through a dark screen,
A lonely pixel, too small to be seen.

Irregular Probabilities

"What is the probability of randomly drawing two cards from a standard deck of playing cards and getting two aces of spades?"

Validity of mathematics not guaranteed.

This was a question that confounded me in a dream. I mean, I know enough basic mathematics to conclude that the logical answer would be (1/52)×(0/51) which would be a clean zero.

But I was not entirely satisfied. Calculating for three aces to be drawn simultaneously under the same conditions gives us the following probability:
(1/52)×(0/51)×(-1/50) which also equals zero. [Since two aces of spades have hypothetically been drawn from a single pack, the pack now has -1 aces of spades in it.)

Now for the application of some skill.

What if you drew three cards, but placed the second card back in the deck without looking at any of them?

The probability of drawing three aces is still (1/52)×(0/51)×(-1/50).

However, you have placed the second card back into the deck.

So, the new probability becomes (1/52)×(-1/50), or (-1/2600), which is approximately -0.00038461538. A pretty small negative number, but a non-zero one.

Therefore, if you draw three random cards from a standard deck of cards, replace the second card you drew (possibly contingent on the second card being an ace of spades), then you have the probability of having two cards left in your hands being -0.00038461538. Unfortunately, this is a negative number. So, unless you use a mirror, the two cards are going to be two aces of spades in an alternate universe.

Of course, if you are going to use a mirror, there are several techniques that may be used to reach the same outcome at a much higher frequency. Some of these involve the use of highly advanced mathematical tools like using a trick deck and/or palming a card or two before you begin, which are beyond the scope of this exercise.