Jewish parable: Talmud, Socrates and two in the chimney
In the mid-1920s, a young Jew came to the famous New York
rabbi and said he wants to learn the Talmud.
- Do you know Aramaic? The rabbi asked.
- Not.
- And the Hebrew?
- Not.
- Did you teach Torah as a child?
- No, the rebbe. But you do not worry. I graduated from the faculty of philosophy at Berkeley and have just defended my dissertation on logic in Socrates philosophy. And now, in order to make up the white spots in my knowledge, I want to teach the Talmud a little.
“You are not ready to teach the Talmud,” said the rabbi. - This is the deepest book of all written by people. But once you insist, I will arrange a logic test for you: if you can handle it, I will deal with you.
The young man agreed, and the rabbi continued.
- Two people go down the chimney. One gets out with a clean face, the other with a dirty one. Which of them will go to wash?
The young philosopher's eyes got on his forehead.
- This is a test for logic ?!
The rabbi nodded.
- Well, of course, the one who has a dirty face!
- Wrong. Think logically: the one who has a dirty face will look at the one who has a clean face, and will decide that his face is also clean. And the one who has a clean face, looks at the one whose face is dirty, decides that he, too, got dirty, and goes to wash.
- Slyly invented! - admired the guest. - Come on, Rebbe, give me another test!
- Well, young man. Two people go down the chimney. One gets out with a clean face, the other with a dirty one. Which of them will go to wash?
- But we already found out - the one who has a clean face!
- Wrong. Both will go to wash. Think logically: the one with a clean face will look at the one who has a dirty face, and will decide that his face is also dirty. And the one who has a dirty face, will see that the second one has gone to wash, will understand that he has a dirty face, and will also go to wash.
- I did not think about it! Amazingly - I made a logical mistake! Rebbe, let's take another test!
- Okay. Two people go down the chimney. One gets out with a clean face, the other with a dirty one. Which of them will go to wash?
- Well: Both will go to wash.
- Wrong. To wash will not go any of them. Think logically: the one who has a dirty face will look at the one who has a clean face and will not wash. And the one who has a clean face, will see that the one who has a dirty face does not go to wash, he will understand that his face is clean, and he will not wash too.
The young man came to despair.
- Well, believe me, I can learn the Talmud! Ask for something else!
- Okay. Two people go down the chimney:
- Oh my God! None of them will go to wash !!!
- Wrong. Now you are convinced that knowledge of the logic of Socrates is not enough to teach the Talmud? Tell me, how can it be that two people go down the same pipe, and one of them gets his face dirty, and the other doesn’t ?! Do not you understand? This whole question is nonsense, and if you spend your life answering meaningless questions, then all your answers will also be meaningless!
rabbi and said he wants to learn the Talmud.
- Do you know Aramaic? The rabbi asked.
- Not.
- And the Hebrew?
- Not.
- Did you teach Torah as a child?
- No, the rebbe. But you do not worry. I graduated from the faculty of philosophy at Berkeley and have just defended my dissertation on logic in Socrates philosophy. And now, in order to make up the white spots in my knowledge, I want to teach the Talmud a little.
“You are not ready to teach the Talmud,” said the rabbi. - This is the deepest book of all written by people. But once you insist, I will arrange a logic test for you: if you can handle it, I will deal with you.
The young man agreed, and the rabbi continued.
- Two people go down the chimney. One gets out with a clean face, the other with a dirty one. Which of them will go to wash?
The young philosopher's eyes got on his forehead.
- This is a test for logic ?!
The rabbi nodded.
- Well, of course, the one who has a dirty face!
- Wrong. Think logically: the one who has a dirty face will look at the one who has a clean face, and will decide that his face is also clean. And the one who has a clean face, looks at the one whose face is dirty, decides that he, too, got dirty, and goes to wash.
- Slyly invented! - admired the guest. - Come on, Rebbe, give me another test!
- Well, young man. Two people go down the chimney. One gets out with a clean face, the other with a dirty one. Which of them will go to wash?
- But we already found out - the one who has a clean face!
- Wrong. Both will go to wash. Think logically: the one with a clean face will look at the one who has a dirty face, and will decide that his face is also dirty. And the one who has a dirty face, will see that the second one has gone to wash, will understand that he has a dirty face, and will also go to wash.
- I did not think about it! Amazingly - I made a logical mistake! Rebbe, let's take another test!
- Okay. Two people go down the chimney. One gets out with a clean face, the other with a dirty one. Which of them will go to wash?
- Well: Both will go to wash.
- Wrong. To wash will not go any of them. Think logically: the one who has a dirty face will look at the one who has a clean face and will not wash. And the one who has a clean face, will see that the one who has a dirty face does not go to wash, he will understand that his face is clean, and he will not wash too.
The young man came to despair.
- Well, believe me, I can learn the Talmud! Ask for something else!
- Okay. Two people go down the chimney:
- Oh my God! None of them will go to wash !!!
- Wrong. Now you are convinced that knowledge of the logic of Socrates is not enough to teach the Talmud? Tell me, how can it be that two people go down the same pipe, and one of them gets his face dirty, and the other doesn’t ?! Do not you understand? This whole question is nonsense, and if you spend your life answering meaningless questions, then all your answers will also be meaningless!
')
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/63681/
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