Green, who trained as a nuclear engineer at UC-Berkeley, started out doing fractal math to model ecological risk across huge biological systems such as the rainforest.

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That primal triangle went fractal, very effectively: the initial model flipped several times, as Pam rejected Jim, then Jim Pam, and it was mimicked in crueller forms (Angela, Dwight, and Andy), sillier forms (Kelly, Ryan, and Darryl), and more grownup forms (Michael, Jan, and Holly), until nearly every character had dealt with some form of unspoken longing or romantic betrayal.

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