Using Language Like Math
A poem about how language affects our perceptions.
Everything is either that or not that. Things that are kind of like that Are not that.
Anything that can be pointed at or thought of Is either that or not that. See for yourself.
It’s a test of sorts. An inarguable truth. Sometimes, you can find things that break the rule.
Even a rule as simple as that. You might find, for example, a mammal that lays eggs. Mammals don’t lay eggs,
That’s the definition of a mammal, And yet, a mammal that lays eggs Is called a platypus.
If you find too many platypuses, In your math or in your language, Then it’s time to question
Your first principles, your generalizations, The implicit assumptions embedded in your language. Inevitably, when you face a situation frankly, a solution appears. This has been true for the whole history of civilization.
Insight never appears before it does.
From Zen and the Art of [nothing] by John Zdanowski & Jeff Abrams, Chapter 7.