One definition of life, albeit not a particularly useful one, might run something like this: “Life is that property which a being will lose as a result of falling out of a cold and mysterious cave thirteen miles above ground level.” This is not a useful definition, ‘A’ – because it could equally well refer to the subject’s glasses if he happens to be wearing them, and ‘B’ – because it fails to take into account the possibility that the subject might happen to fall onto, say, the back of an extremely large passing bird. The first of these flaws is due to sloppy thinking, but the second is understandable, because the mere idea is quite clearly, utterly ludicrous.
jarvisloop about 6 years ago
Will someone please explain this one to me? Is it about free falling?
yimhere about 6 years ago
It doesn’t matter…. they’re all road kill at the bottom!
Andrew Sleeth about 6 years ago
OK, physics majors: Is it possible in that distance?
Charlie Tuba about 6 years ago
One definition of life, albeit not a particularly useful one, might run something like this: “Life is that property which a being will lose as a result of falling out of a cold and mysterious cave thirteen miles above ground level.” This is not a useful definition, ‘A’ – because it could equally well refer to the subject’s glasses if he happens to be wearing them, and ‘B’ – because it fails to take into account the possibility that the subject might happen to fall onto, say, the back of an extremely large passing bird. The first of these flaws is due to sloppy thinking, but the second is understandable, because the mere idea is quite clearly, utterly ludicrous.