placed with name tags. The person next to me was a slightly older man. We started talking, asking each other where we came from and how amazing the wedding was. The conversation transferred to the man, who said he was from Stavanger, was about to retire, and had been reflecting on one particular thing. He said he was a lawyer, had been a District Judge in Stavanger, and had questioned whether he had been too hard on people when sentencing. Then he brought up one person with a full name as he said: “There is this one person named Steinar Hansen, who has been in and out of my courts throughout my career. To ensure Steinar also learned that destructive behavior is unacceptable, and hoping he would learn, I gave him the maximum sentence each time.” He then continued: “I have at times questioned myself if I had not been so harsh, maybe his life would have turned out differently”. This troubled the judge’s mind, as he might be the reason lives like Steinar Hansen were destroyed. I was stunned, but let him finish before I asked about Steinar’s age, and if he knew whether he came from my region, where I was born. The judge said, “Yes, as a matter of fact, Steinar did.” I also got confirmed that he was two years older than me. I then knew for sure the Steinar he spoke about. Christian When did you know Steinar, and what was your relationship to him? Ove I told the judge that I came from a family farm at Klofta called Skjelmerud where I grew up and that we had people working there who also lived at the farm. One of these was a welder and cattle hand who had a son. The son was Steinar Hansen. Steinar’s father worked there for three years, from when I was 8 to 11. Steinar also attended the same school as me, but at a higher level because of his age. I then went on to tell him Steinar was one of the people who also had occupied space in my mind. During the time at the farm, Steinar was
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THE ALGORITHM
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