The Big Zucchini Problem

It is my birthday today. A friend gave me a zucchini as a gift. A zucchini of such a size that anyone who saw it would almost surely say that it was a very large zucchini, and that they had not known that zucchinis could be quite so very large. Unsure of what to do with such a large vegetable, I set it upon a shelf. There, I could remark on its largeness whenever my gaze drifted from the small tasks of the day. I could wonder what should be done with it. I could, of course, eat the zucchini. It was certainly not too large to eat if only I were to divide it up between a number of meals. But it still seemed too large to be eaten. That is, in the sense that there ought to be something suitably different that one does with a very large zucchini, something different to what one does with a zucchini, or indeed any vegetable, of a regular size.  Namely, to eat it. Growing exasperated by the lack of any ready solution, I decided to renew my efforts in the morning.

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The Wooden Duck of Edinburgh

Philosophical Story

On June 11, 1762, Rousseau was ordered to leave France after the government banned his educational treatise Emile. His protectress, Marie-Charlotte-Hippolyte wrote to Hume asking him to house the Frenchman in Scotland, where the heart is free. Rousseau was not happy with this solution because he never trusted Hume; however, in the last couple of months he really got into Chinese philosophy and one gem of wisdom he learned was that you should keep your friends close but your enemies closer.

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Het tegenovergestelde van de horizon

‘Communicatiestation Sigma’ staat met grote blokletters geschreven op de koffiemok die voor mij staat. Daarnaast een klein embleem van de Olympiaanse Alliantie. Dezelfde woorden staan op het toetsenbord waarmee ik dit type en op de kleren die ik aan heb. Vreemd eigenlijk, want de enige persoon in Communicatiestation Sigma hoeft er niet aan herinnerd te worden dat ze daar is: dat ben ik zelf. Ik ben de enige die er ooit zal komen.

Tenzij de missie slaagt natuurlijk, maar daar ga ik inmiddels niet meer van uit.

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