Having watched again "Heaven Sent" (Doctor Who) last night, I
wanted to share the story: "The Shepherd Boy" by the brother's
Grimm. After you read it, I'd like to see some interesting
answers to some impossible questions. It engages a different
style of logic than you may be accustomed to, unless you already
are accustomed to this style of logic presentation. ==== THE
SHEPHERD BOY.
There was once on a time a shepherd boy whose fame spread far
and wide because of the wise answers which he gave to every
question. The King of the country heard of it likewise, but did
not believe it, and sent for the boy. Then he said to him, "If
thou canst give me an answer to three questions which I will ask
thee, I will look on thee as my own child, and thou shalt dwell
with me in my royal palace." The boy said, "What are the three
questions?" The King said, "The first is, how many drops of
water are there in the ocean?" The shepherd boy answered, "Lord
King, if you will have all the rivers on earth dammed up so that
not a single drop runs from them into the sea until I have
counted it, I will tell you how many drops there are in the
sea." The King said, "The next question is, how many stars are
there in the sky?" The shepherd boy said, "Give me a great sheet
of white paper," and then he made so many fine points on it with
a pen that they could scarcely be seen, and it was all but
impossible to count them; any one who looked at them would have
lost his sight. Then he said, "There are as many stars in the
sky as there are points on the paper; just count them." But no
one was able to do it. The King said, "The third question is,
how many seconds of time are there in eternity?" Then said the
shepherd boy, "In Lower Pomerania is the Diamond Mountain, which
is two miles and a half high, two miles and a half wide, and two
miles and a half in depth; every hundred years a little bird
comes and sharpens its beak on it, and when the whole mountain
is worn away by this, then the first second of eternity will be
over." The King said, "Thou hast answered the three questions
like a wise man, and shalt henceforth dwell with me in my royal
palace, and I will regard thee as my own child."
