Questions for God
Questions for God
[Megan and Cueball walk together.] Megan: Horace Lamb said he would have two questions for God: why quantum mechanics, and why turbulence? Cueball: I'd have just one: What did Miss Susie's steamboat do?!

Megan is paraphrasing a famous quote from the British applied mathematician , and fellow of the Royal Society , Horace Lamb , who famously stated in 1932 :
This was referring to two phenomena in physics that, at the time, were poorly understood and difficult to explain. Lamb proved to be correct in his prediction that quantum electrodynamics (QED) was easier to explain; nowadays we have a much clearer understanding of QED, while our understanding of turbulence has improved little. Richard Feynman , who was himself largely responsible for explaining QED, famously described turbulence as "the most important unsolved problem of classical physics".
Cueball , in response, indicates that if he were to gain divine elucidation his question would relate to the widespread schoolyard rhyme " Miss Susie ", which typically begins with the stanza:
"Miss Susie had a steamboat The steamboat had a bell Miss Susie went to heaven The steamboat went to...
Hell -o operator Please give me number nine ..."
The rhyming scheme between the second and fourth lines, and implied contrast with "heaven," causes the listener to fill in the word "Hell" instead of the innocuous "Hello". Therefore, Cueball is wondering what a steamboat, an object lacking will, [ citation needed ] could have done to deserve divine punishment.
The title text is a reference to the 1930s pulp series " The Shadow ", whose eponymous character is a psychic vigilante. The 1937 radio plays introduction began with the line "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" Unfortunately, since a steamboat is not a person, [ citation needed ] The Shadow would be unable to determine what heinous crimes the steamboat had committed to deserve damnation.
This comic, in particular the way Megan and Cueball are walking and its reference to theology, greatly resembles the later comic 1505: Ontological Argument .
[Megan and Cueball walk together.] Megan: Horace Lamb said he would have two questions for God: why quantum mechanics, and why turbulence? Cueball: I'd have just one: What did Miss Susie's steamboat do?!
