people desire numbers
In the daze and reflection of just having finished Errol Morris’ The Fog of War, I realize the strange (no pun intended) connection between Robert S. McNamara and Virginia Tech’s very own Paul Torgersen. McNamara had a degree in economics, business administration, and formal education in philosophy and mathematics. Torgersen had his education based around industrial systems engineering (ISE for me), or “efficiency engineering” for everyone else. Really, on many basic levels, ISE is a remarkably similar summation of the pieces of mathematics, economics, business administration, and philosophy - the differences might only require a footnote or two.
The Fog of War, as Wikipedia describes it, is an intimate dialogue that, combined with a straight-forward camera shot of McNamara’s face, and therefore his purest body language, reveals so much about his character and views during all of his momentous involvements. Last semester, I completed a course led by Dr. Torgersen in which I was continually amazed at how transparent he was about his policies and encounters as department head, then dean, then president; Torgersen simply had no reservations about coming forth with what he was really thinking at each time.
Both of these untampered, verbal memoirs seem to have reached me in identical manners. While clearly on different scales, the actions of McNamara and Torgersen were adjudicated with respect to an onslaught of conflicting interests and informational sources. In some instances, the men had little to no clarity of moral results and had to act on minimizing damage or consequences.
And, expressed by both, a disputedly-rhetorical question came forth: “how much evil must you do to do good?”
The clashing of inner and outer roles, the taxing complex morality both of these men balanced, the painful conflict of the short and long terms: I sense a rush of adrenaline, not in anticipation of throwing myself to a death found in shouting adversaries while serving as an attempted mediator, but rather in the sense of boldly deciding the questions no one else has the courage to answer.
Boldly going where few men (and women) have, or will have, gone before (today or yesterday).