For what sailing lessons ?

 

Submariner lessons.

 

Lord.

 

Oh I think this is just the beginning.....























































But still, we are glad that you are OK. That makes what we are going to do so much easier!!

 

Dear Ron....

With the holiday season upon us, was wondering if you could clear up an old issue...

Which came first... the chicken or the egg...

And while you are at it....

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Signed,
Seeing poultry in Cincy!

 

As is so often true, it depends on your definitions. You pays your money and you takes your frame of reference. (Einstein said that, I think.)

If you define a chicken egg as something that produces a chicken, the egg came first. Mostly likely resulting from the union of a red and a gray junglefowl.

If you define a chicken egg as an egg laid by a chicken, the chicken came first, laid by the first modern chicken following the divergence of the species from the red and gray junglefowl hybrid.

The chicken crossing the road question comes from the error of ascribing intentionality from the observed actions of an animal. Skinner would frown at you.

The chicken has no concept of "road" and does not recognize the event as anything other than crossing a hard flat space. Hence, its reasons will vary by occurrence. There's a pile of grain over there or there's a wolf back there. Rather than trying to induce general causes from this specific instance of fowl movement, you need to ponder the characteristics and motivations of each unique chicken and road encounter.

Take notes.

 

Dear Ron,
Should Raul have turned left instead of right?

 

You know, if he kept on going straight after he turned left, he might as well have gone right.

 

I believe Ron is wrong on this one (sorry Ron). It will be proven that the chicken crossed the road to avoid Raul, whose was head directly for him. Check the police report!!

 

Absolutely correct answer, but for the wrong reason.

As the world is finite but unbounded, Raul would indeed return to his starting point after turning in either direction if he drove long enough. However, anyone who has ever followed Raul on a run knows he can't go for more than 15 miles, tops, before making a U-turn.