In some circles a big debate, I'm told, revolves around the question "Which is better, a pirate or a ninja?" There are good arguments on both sides, depending on what characteristics are judged as most important — toughness, intelligence, panache, cash flow, ...

But even more interesting are other uncommon comparisons. For instance:

• Which is a more effective tool to apply in childrearing: shame or guilt?
• Which is the sillier way to disable a malign ultraintelligent computer in a low-budget science-fiction movie or TV show: command it to work on a noncomputable problem (e.g., divide by zero, count to infinity, etc.) or tell it that it is internally inconsistent and must therefore introspect to self-destruction?
• Which is more valuable to carry during an ultramarathon in order to fight blisters: duct tape or petroleum jelly?
• Which works better to provoke philosophical dialogue: self-referential absurdist humor or leaving a question un ... ?

(see also GuiltAndShame (30 Jun 2002), TwoButNotThree (24 Sep 2003), ... )

TopicHumor - TopicThinking - TopicPhilosophy - 2004-07-28

(correlates: TooYoung, MarryTheOne, SmellOfGoodProse, ...)