Associations.

A song, whenever experienced, immediately bringing to mind a book, a story, a magical world.

I remember the first time I really wondered what a mathematical model would look like. It was in one of those circular stairwells that almost seem like "the four towers" that stand at the four corners of Linn-Benton Community College's main courtyard, it was in the southeast stairwell that I wondered, thought about what in the world a mathematical model would be like. I pictured them as something of a hi-tech 3-D image, something like what a computer-aided design software package is. But what you could do with them, how you could use them practically--I had no idea.

A relatively simple example of a mathematical model would be a linear regression model. When generated, this model can help you predict what will happen in the future regarding specific data. If you have 100 horsepower, you can go 23 mph. If you have 120 horsepower, how fast can you go now? A linear regression model might help you estimate that.