"We shall parse the lightning from the semi-truck" I wrote to a beloved friend back in 2014. Shall we proceed? Let us not get daunted. First I will discuss what is meant and the various implications, and then I will parse the language in the traditional sense and forthwith plum the implications of what can be meaningfully gleaned from that.
Let us picture the scene together right now. Up in the cloudy sky in the middle of a storm, charges are forming in the air, slowly building. The charges reach their threshold and all of a sudden, a bolt of lightning forms in the air and rips all the way down to the ground level where a semi-truck is passing along a freeway. The electricity hits the metal top of the truck, but the truck is well-designed to protect the rider, who at that point only hears the bolt of lightning and feels a bump. The electrical charge dissipates and the truck continues to pass along the freeway without any problem. The rider may later discover lightning damage on his hood.
The picture of the lightning hitting the semi-truck is the perfect picture of functionality. The lightning, first of all, serves a function and purpose in restoring balance to the Earth's electrical field. The truck was designed to be able to incur the strike of a lightning bolt and keep any riders and the driver safe. The electricity is conducted through the truck's metal armor like as through a "semiconductor." Note the similarity in the words: semi truck and semi conductor. The truck's purpose is to carry worldly goods in bulk, and the driver's purpose is to maneuver all of it without causing any unreasonable damage to it.
In a different case, lightning may hit a semi-truck and the rider may be injured. It could be more severe lightning, but it is most likely the case that the truck was not designed to handle the force of a lightning bolt against it- it was not designed to protect the driver against lightning. This would be a picture of dysfunctionality. The materials and structure of a good system are normally created to handle the elements that are foreseen to come against it. If one builds their house out of straw, for example, it might be blown down by the "big bad wolf." Who would do that and design a system that poorly? Builders, designers, and engineers typically try to foresee and protect against disasters that could be caused by bad weather and other elements. Bad weather and the elements that come with it are simply to be expected, especially by those who regularly travel freeway routes across the country.
Similarly, someone who is constantly traveling, constantly on the go, taking part in activities where they are never really just sitting at home would want a vessel to travel in. Such things as cars and trucks, besides functioning as a vehicle of transport for long distances, also have the functional component of being able to protect the person riding in it from the weather elements- rain, cold, sleet, snow, hail, and heat. The size of the car or truck that will choose will depend on the purpose they intend to use it for.
If we "parse" the lightning from the semi-truck in the traditional sense, we see that they are both nouns in the English language. The word "from" is a preposition implying that the lightning did, in fact, strike and hit said semi-truck (and all of this is merely a hypothetical construct, mind you). It is common knowledge that lightning is not continually forming and striking from the sky, but only during storms. Storms don't always happen. Therefore the protective metal of a semi-truck (especially if it is lightning-resistant) has a functionality not constantly in use, but only comes in handy sometimes (psychologically, firstly, allowing the driver to feel more safe during storms), and the truck may only ever be hit by lightning once or twice during it's lifetime. That does not serve to reduce or undermine the importance of the protective metal it is comprised of.
Now let's say there's a crafty driver who thinks himself very smart, and this person installs a lightning rod on top of his semi-truck not realizing that his truck is already built specifically with lightning resistant materials. Perhaps the metal of the truck even has sophisticated semiconductor-type materials that can handle a severe lightning bolt charge and dissipate it. This too is dysfunctional as being a waste of time, money, energy, resources, and besides that has the appearance of foolishness to those who know that his truck is already lightning resistant. He brags about his lightning rod to many other people, and some of them already know that his truck could handle a lightning bolt without any further intervention. They try to gently correct him on the matter, but he simply refuses to hear it. The lightning rod was his idea and he bought it with his money. No one can tell him otherwise. So it is that when some people encounter an already functional system, they want to interfere and try to amend or fix it when there's nothing wrong to begin with. It is simply the case that the lightning resistant feature of such a vessel is not immediately obvious from merely looking at the vessel with one's eyes. That is real information only acquired by reading, study, or talking to someone who already knows that information.
Let us picture the scene together right now. Up in the cloudy sky in the middle of a storm, charges are forming in the air, slowly building. The charges reach their threshold and all of a sudden, a bolt of lightning forms in the air and rips all the way down to the ground level where a semi-truck is passing along a freeway. The electricity hits the metal top of the truck, but the truck is well-designed to protect the rider, who at that point only hears the bolt of lightning and feels a bump. The electrical charge dissipates and the truck continues to pass along the freeway without any problem. The rider may later discover lightning damage on his hood.
The picture of the lightning hitting the semi-truck is the perfect picture of functionality. The lightning, first of all, serves a function and purpose in restoring balance to the Earth's electrical field. The truck was designed to be able to incur the strike of a lightning bolt and keep any riders and the driver safe. The electricity is conducted through the truck's metal armor like as through a "semiconductor." Note the similarity in the words: semi truck and semi conductor. The truck's purpose is to carry worldly goods in bulk, and the driver's purpose is to maneuver all of it without causing any unreasonable damage to it.
In a different case, lightning may hit a semi-truck and the rider may be injured. It could be more severe lightning, but it is most likely the case that the truck was not designed to handle the force of a lightning bolt against it- it was not designed to protect the driver against lightning. This would be a picture of dysfunctionality. The materials and structure of a good system are normally created to handle the elements that are foreseen to come against it. If one builds their house out of straw, for example, it might be blown down by the "big bad wolf." Who would do that and design a system that poorly? Builders, designers, and engineers typically try to foresee and protect against disasters that could be caused by bad weather and other elements. Bad weather and the elements that come with it are simply to be expected, especially by those who regularly travel freeway routes across the country.
Similarly, someone who is constantly traveling, constantly on the go, taking part in activities where they are never really just sitting at home would want a vessel to travel in. Such things as cars and trucks, besides functioning as a vehicle of transport for long distances, also have the functional component of being able to protect the person riding in it from the weather elements- rain, cold, sleet, snow, hail, and heat. The size of the car or truck that will choose will depend on the purpose they intend to use it for.
If we "parse" the lightning from the semi-truck in the traditional sense, we see that they are both nouns in the English language. The word "from" is a preposition implying that the lightning did, in fact, strike and hit said semi-truck (and all of this is merely a hypothetical construct, mind you). It is common knowledge that lightning is not continually forming and striking from the sky, but only during storms. Storms don't always happen. Therefore the protective metal of a semi-truck (especially if it is lightning-resistant) has a functionality not constantly in use, but only comes in handy sometimes (psychologically, firstly, allowing the driver to feel more safe during storms), and the truck may only ever be hit by lightning once or twice during it's lifetime. That does not serve to reduce or undermine the importance of the protective metal it is comprised of.
Now let's say there's a crafty driver who thinks himself very smart, and this person installs a lightning rod on top of his semi-truck not realizing that his truck is already built specifically with lightning resistant materials. Perhaps the metal of the truck even has sophisticated semiconductor-type materials that can handle a severe lightning bolt charge and dissipate it. This too is dysfunctional as being a waste of time, money, energy, resources, and besides that has the appearance of foolishness to those who know that his truck is already lightning resistant. He brags about his lightning rod to many other people, and some of them already know that his truck could handle a lightning bolt without any further intervention. They try to gently correct him on the matter, but he simply refuses to hear it. The lightning rod was his idea and he bought it with his money. No one can tell him otherwise. So it is that when some people encounter an already functional system, they want to interfere and try to amend or fix it when there's nothing wrong to begin with. It is simply the case that the lightning resistant feature of such a vessel is not immediately obvious from merely looking at the vessel with one's eyes. That is real information only acquired by reading, study, or talking to someone who already knows that information.
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