gmf@uvacs.UUCP (05/24/84)
Reading about the Greek ship problem reminded me of an old joke --
recorded in fact by one Hierocles, 5th century A.D. (Lord knows how
old it was then):
A foolish fellow who had a house to sell took a brick from one wall
to show as a sample.
Cf. Jay Rosenberg: "A board is a part of a ship *at a time*. Once it's
been removed and replaced, it no longer *is* a part of the ship. It
only once *was* a part of the ship."
Hierocles is referred to as a "new Platonist", so maybe he was a
philosopher. On the other hand, maybe he was a gag-writer. Another
by him:
During a storm, the passengers on board a vessel that appeared in
danger, seized different implements to aid them in swimming, and
one of them picked for this purpose the anchor.
Rosenberg's remark quoted above becomes even clearer if "board" is
replaced by "anchor" (due, no doubt, to the relative anonymity of
boards, as compared with anchors).
Gordon Fisher