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variations on a theme: The “an ordinary clock glimpsed in its moment of brief logical positivistic awakening” post (from the protein wisdom conceptual series)

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“The truth is, I will always tic.  So tell that Austrian hack Popper and his bullshit modus tollens to kiss my ever-ticking clock ass!”

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23 Replies to “variations on a theme: The “an ordinary clock glimpsed in its moment of brief logical positivistic awakening” post (from the protein wisdom conceptual series)”

  1. dicentra says:

    modus tollens, the formal name for indirect proof or proof by contrapositive (contrapositive inference), often abbreviated to MT. It can also be referred to as denying the consequent, and is a valid form of argument (unlike similarly-named but invalid arguments such as affirming the consequent or denying the antecedent).

    Just thought I’d get that out of the way for y’all.

  2. David Stove agrees.

  3. McGehee says:

    So tell that Austrian hack Popper and his bullshit modus tollens to kiss my ever-ticking clock ass!

    I say you’re all toc.

  4. McGehee says:

    Note to readers: kindly superimpose this blockquote, sans content, on the first paragraph in my first comment above. Thank you.

  5. Beck says:

    For some reason, my digital watch just said, “I shall never tic.”

    I have seriously got to lay off the little red pills.

  6. Dan Collins says:

    Beck–

    And the poppers.

  7. Dan Collins says:

    Which prompts me to ask: Anyone care to yark up some lyrics to “Popper, Don’t Preach”?  It just may be that Jack Goff likes Madonna.

    TW: foot, as in just hold still while I pull mine out of your ass, Jack

  8. Jeff Goldstein says:

    Not sure it’s true that Popper don’t preach—though my logical positivist clock tells me that statements of metaphysics are pretty much useless.

    Of course, it’s a clock, so I’m not sure how much credence I’d lend it’s philosophical observations.

  9. none says:

    You seem to have an inordinate number of clocks.

  10. JohnAnnArbor says:

    It it “tik” in German?

  11. Dan Collins says:

    Not sure it’s true that Popper don’t preach—though my logical positivist clock tells me that statements of metaphysics are pretty much useless.

    Fair enough, Jeff.  But the reason I had the comma in the title was because the “Don’t Preach” part is supposed to be imperative.

    TW: clearly, I wasn’t defending Popper

  12. I'm a scientist, damn it! says:

    Wait, Popper–that’s the guy from Blues Traveler, right?  What’s he got to do with clocks?  I thought he played harmonica…

  13. rls says:

    “The truth is, I will always tic.  So tell that Austrian hack Popper and his bullshit modus tollens to kiss my ever-ticking clock ass!”

    “Listen you spring wound gear head, ve haf vays to make you toc.”

  14. Great Mencken's Ghost! says:

    It it “tik” in German?

    Actually it’s “tickenundtockenfurdertimenshpielen” but it’s usually abbreviated in casual use.

  15. MarkD says:

    That can’t be correct without any umlauts or that double S thing.  You’re yanking our chains.

  16. McGehee says:

    No, actually GMG is korrekt. Except that it’s die Tickenundtockenfurdertimenshpielen. All nouns in German start with a capital letter.

    “Die Tickenundtockenfurdertimenshpielen” is, in fact, the only eleven-syllable noun used in German that doesn’t have even one single umlaut or that double S thing. It’s a little known fact.

    There are 147 ten-syllable German nouns that have neither an umlaut nor that double S thing. And there are 26 twelve-syllable German nouns with that distinction. But only the one with eleven syllables.

    Issn’t dat veird?

  17. McGehee says:

    (The “die” doesn’t count as a syllable. Arcane grammatical rule in all but two and a half of the 73 German dialects.)

  18. richard mcenroe says:

    MarkD — The original German word for ‘tank’ was ‘panzerkampfwagen…’ and goes on for 75 letters.  The literal translation was ‘armored fighting vehicle for crossing trenches and wire obstacles…’ By the time you finished yelling, “Here come the tanks!” they were already halfway to the brigade TOC…

  19. Major John says:

    I Kant understand that clock’s attitude.

  20. Ric Locke says:

    !

  21. Phil Smith says:

    Also BusHitler.

    BECAUSE OF THE HABEN SIND GEWESEN GEHABT HAVEN GEWORDEN SEIN!

  22. McGehee says:

    !

    Yup. I studied German for six years, and about all I ever got out of it was the realization that English is downright organized by comparison.

  23. Swen Swenson says:

    Sounds like a nervous tic to me..

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