Sunday, January 29, 2012

Cartesian Duck



A Discussion brought to you by the Letter “D”.

Donald: I think I am a duck. Therefore I must be a duck.
Douglas: You mean, you walk like a duck, quack like a duck, so you must be a duck?
Donald: Is there a difference?
Douglas: There is. You look like a duck. You quack like a duck. Therefore, it is possible you belong to the Anatidae family. But it doesn’t mean you can think.
__________
Voice-over
Donald’s identity problem can be explained by…
(a) Cartesian logic.
(b) Cartesian linguistics.
(c) Cartesian diving.
(d) Cartesian coordinates.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A French-speaking duck? Well, that suggests a multicultural duck.
And the sound of a duck quacking suggests laughter.
So this is perhaps “Cartesian humor, n’est-ce pas?”

Barry Natusch said...

There are many Cartesian concepts, particularly in mathematics such as Cartesian coordinates, Cartesian geometry or Cartesian tree.

But Descartes influenced other fields as well. Cartesian linguistics, Cartesian physics and Cartesian dualism.

And there are concepts I may address later such as the Cartesian circle and Cartesian anxiety which deal with concepts more abstract than a duck.