November 28, 2008

Others may read about metaphysics. Me, I'm making a puppet out of the sugar packet...

... drawing on the recycled-paper-brown napkins...

DSC09654

... and wondering if it's possible to finish a blueberry scone.

The question arose: Is time not an illusion?

At long last, I finished the scone, performed a puppet show to the tune of "Hang on Sloopy"...



... scrounged for the last crumbs of scone, and worrying about the 2-hour limit on my parking spot, took leave of the Metaphysics Café.

AFTERTHOUGHT: Did you notice the chef's hat?

DSC09699

19 comments:

Original Mike said...

Wish I could help you with the time question, but I don't know what time is.

rhhardin said...

Try Derrida's Spurs (click on ``discouraged'' search result).

It's short, printed in English on only one side, bloggable, and about metaphysics being male. (Your general metaphysics introduction is going to make it asexual and so completely incomprehensible.)

For God's sake skip the introduction however.

rhhardin said...

Think of time as an entropy gradient.

DaLawGiver said...

Coffee looks good but that thing on your plate looks like a fried balut.

And who is that puppet, Speed Racer?

Anonymous said...

That's impressive.

Christopher Hamilton
The Right Opinion, for the Right Wing

Bissage said...

We love all the manifestations of Althouse, of course.

But it is playful Althouse we love most.

Happy Day-After-Thanksgivings Day!

Bissage said...

BTW, I know what time is and I’m willing to share.

Time is God’s way of making sure everything doesn’t happen at once.

Ha!

ricpic said...

Think of time as an entropy gradient.

And Bissage didn't make a nonsense poem out of this?

DaLawGiver said...

Time has come today.

blake said...

Bissage stole my line, so I'll do the poem (well, couplet):

Think of time as an entropy gradient
Designed to confound the homo sapient

zeek said...

What was baked into that scone that made you see life in a sugar packet?

XWL said...

Observationally, time is most definitely not an illusion.

Whether we are reliable narrators as to the reality of our experiences regarding time and sequence (do we 'live' our whole lives in one chunk, but our brains order it in understandable portions?, or other such navel-gazing nonsense) is a different question than the illusory or non-illusory nature of time.

A stomach still full of turkey, and a mind slightly hazed from tryptophan are probably not the right mental or physical states to tackle these questions, however.

Also, vortex kitteh.

(the whole, turkey makes you especially sleepy cause of high levels of tryptophan, has been debunked, but that doesn't mean it's not fun to still trot out that old trope anyway)

Anonymous said...

Were mushrooms an ingredient in yesterday's green bean casserole?

J. Cole said...

Do you want to become a law professor version of Mr. Garrison on South Park? Tomorrow will you loudly proclaim your un-gayness?

Chip Ahoy said...

XWL, Vortex Kitty animated.

YAMB said...

From the Hitchhiker's Guide:

Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so.

William said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
William said...

"Time is the moving image of eternity." Eternity ain't what it used to be. Time was when your puppet and his tree second strut across the stage would have perished without notice or comment. Now, given the technology of the internet and proper maintenance of your site, he will outlive us all.

John Althouse Cohen said...

More about the time question from the other person at the table.