Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Whatchamacallit this thingamajiggy?: a psychobabble kōan

The teacher told Psinga: "When you tell Whatsisface 'A lot of Thingamajiggies are Whatchamacallits', Whatsisface resists, and says 'How do you know? Have you asked a lot of Thingamajiggies? Are you saying this because you are yourself a Whatchamacallit?'. Whatsisface doesn't want to pause to understand that:
i. Whatever else Whatsisface considers a Thingamajiggy to be, is also a type of Whatchamacallit.
ii. You may have traversed an inferential distance and arrived at the conclusion 'A lot of Thingamajiggies are Whatchamacallits', and may not be starting with the assumption that 'A lot of Thingamajiggies are Whatchamacallits.'"

Psinga instinctively started to resist, but suddenly stopped short, for he understood. He said "I must take care not to be like Whatsisface." And he took his first step across the inferential bridge.

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