Sunday, May 4, 2008

Deep Thoughts XI

If you never get into trouble, you'll never have to get out of it. - Constable Keating, "Misunderstood" by P. G. Wodehouse.

I prefer tautologies for Deep Thoughts, but this almost one. The non-tautologous bit is that, after all, one might be in trouble but never have got into it, and yet still need to get out of it. One way is if one is in trouble from the beginning of one's existence. Maybe, then, one's coming into existence counts as a getting into trouble, so this is not a counterexample to Constable Keating's claim. The other way one might be in trouble but never have got into it is if one has infinite age and has always been in trouble. Of course, it might be that Kalaam considerations will show that that is in fact impossible. If so, then Constable Keating's claim will be a necessary truth. But it probably still won't be a tautology.

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