TASSO: Atlas stands on the back of a turtle.DIMITRI: But what does the turtle stand on?TASSO: Another turtle.DIMITRI: And what does the turtle stand on?TASSO: My dear Dimitri, it’s turtles all the way down!
Plato and a Platypus Walk into
a Bar is a clear example that learning is not at odds with humor. Written by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, it explains basic philosophical concepts through classical jokes.
A peppy little book which has the purpose to put things upside down, so we can wonder about the truths of life. In this particular way, the authors of Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar consider that the two concepts, philosophy and jokes, proceed from the same impulse.
What is reality?
Morty comes home to find his wife and his best friend, Lou, naked together in bed. Just as Morty is about to open his mouth, Lou jumps out of the bed and says, Before you say anything, old pal, what are you going to believe, me or your eyes?
It’s not easy to abstract sensory experience–We only have access to the internal experiences of perception and thought–, and having this boundary, humans can go on wondering what’s truly reality.
Determinism versus free will
Moses, Jesus, and a bearded old man are playing golf. Moses drives a long one, which lands on the fairway but rolls directly toward the pond.
Moses raises his club, parts the water, and the ball rolls safely to the other side. Jesus also hits a long one toward the same pond, but just as a it’s about to land in the center, it hovers above the surface.
Jesus casually walks out on the pond and chips it onto the green. The bearded man’s drive hits a fence and bounces out onto the street, where it caroms off an oncoming truck and back onto the fairway. It’s headed directly for the pond, but it lands on a lily pad, where a frog sees it and snatches it into his mouth. An eagle swoops down, grabs the frog, and flies away.
As the eagle and frog pass over the green, the frog drops the ball, and it lands in the cup for a hole-in-one.Moses turns to Jesus and says, <<I hate playing with your dad>>.
Goethe said in his Faust
that the gods could redeem only the human being who is always striving. Most likely, the quality of striving should be more emphasized rather than mere achievement. But who determines the course of events? It is true that freedom is a growth process that arises out of a striving human soul; however, from a certain point, it seems like we can’t control over some events in our life, call it fate, environment, biology, even nowadays, Amazon.
Are gender roles a mere social construct, invented by men to keep women subservient? Or are those roles biologically determined?
A man is dating three women and is trying to decide which to marry. He gives each of them $5,000 to see what they do with the money.
The first has a total makeover. She goes to a fancy salon, gets her hair, nails, and face done, and buys several new outfits. She tells him she has done this to be more attractive to him because she loves him so much.
The second buys the man a number of gifts. She gets him a new set of golf clubs, some accessories for his computer, and some expensive clothes. She tells hims that she has spent all the money on him because she loves him so much.
The third woman invests the money in the stock market. She earns several times the $5,000. She gives him back his $5,000 and reinvests the remainder in a joint account. She tells him she wants to invest in their future because she loves him so much.
Which one does he choose?
Answer: the one with the biggest boobs.
Fred wrote in On the Universal Tendency to Debasement in the Sphere of Love
a theory based on biological determinism stating that <<anatomy is destiny>>. A classic nature/nurture issue, which still throws an enigma that divides psychologists and philosophers.