The way we understand the way we understand
WRITING in response to Stan Courtney鈥檚 comment on repeated phrases that make sense, such as 鈥渢he way we understand the way we understand鈥� (20 January), Stewart Haywood tells us: 鈥淚 watched my daughter standing in front of a mirror this morning, looking at herself looking at herself.鈥�
Gordon Thackray, however, takes Courtney鈥檚 original idea a step further by suggesting that a fruitful future line of research for neuroscientists could be to examine 鈥渢he way we understand the way we understand the way we understand鈥�.
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David Murphin, meanwhile, comes up with the more difficult to decipher but still coherent, 鈥淭hink how much nicer it is to ride in a taxi and think how much nicer it is to ride in a taxi than it is to walk, than it is to walk and think how much nicer it is to ride in a taxi than it is to walk.鈥�
After that, David Squire鈥檚 simple submission 鈥淭his sentence contains 鈥榯his sentence contains'鈥� comes as something of a relief.
Many other readers offered their own versions of this linguistic oddity, but space prevents us publishing them all, so let us conclude with the wisdom of the physicist Richard Feynman, who was there before us in this, as he was in so many things. Tim Cowell was the first of many to draw our attention to a statement made by Feynman when he was a student, which went something like this: 鈥淚 wonder why. I wonder why. I wonder why I wonder. I wonder why I wonder why I wonder why I wonder!鈥� He repeated this to himself over and over again, apparently, as a way of sending himself off to sleep.
鈥淗elpful advice on the label of Ian Chapple鈥檚 son鈥檚 Puma socks: 鈥淲ash when dirty鈥濃��
1 of 5-a-day blows your head off
BRITISH supermarket chain Tesco has taken to encouraging customers to eat the five helpings of fruit or vegetables a day nutritionists recommend and is labelling its foodstuffs accordingly. For example, the bag of Tesco chillies 鈥� containing 20 chillies 鈥� that Mark Stevens spotted advised: 鈥�1 of 5-a-day = half the pack.鈥�
鈥淐rikey!鈥� says Stevens. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a fierce way to help notch up your daily complement of fruit and veg.鈥�
PALEONTOLOGIST James Lamb used to share an office with another professor at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina. One day, he recounts, a student came to complain to his colleague about her poor grade in a term paper.
The professor replied that the grade was poor because the student鈥檚 paper had obviously been plagiarised. He proved the point by citing the original sources for various sentences and paragraphs she had submitted.
Sounding both injured and indignant, the student replied, 鈥淣o, I didn鈥檛 do that. It was the person who wrote the paper for me.鈥�
鈥淭here followed a silence in the office of what was probably only about 30 seconds, but what seemed like 5 minutes as my office mate and I stared at each other, trying to come up with a reply that even came close to doing justice to the situation,鈥� Lamb recalls on the Vertebrate Paleontology mailing list. He adds, 鈥淚 have to say, I鈥檓 glad to have left teaching.鈥�
GOING from the sublime to the ridiculous may not be quite the right way to describe it, but many may at least feel that South Korean cloning researchers are taking the technology sideways rather than forwards. Lee Byung-Chun of Seoul National University once earned worldwide headlines for being the first to clone an Afghan hound. Now news reports say he鈥檚 cloned a poodle.
CONDUCTING a search for 鈥渙kapi鈥� in the FWSE (famous web search engine), Richard Watson Todd thought he had found a surprising reason for the animal鈥檚 dwindling numbers. The summary of the first hit from Wikipedia reads: 鈥淭he tongue of an okapi is long enough for the animal to wash its eyelids and鈥� this has led to problems with the okapi population due to shrinking鈥︹��
Reading the full article, however, Watson Todd found that the two sentences were disappointingly unrelated.
AN antibacterial paint based on nanoscale silver particles could help to end the problem of hospital superbugs. The Australian company Nanovations has launched the paint, Bioni Hygenic, stressing that extreme care must be taken to ensure that the nanoparticles do not enter the natural environment. The product data sheet carries the warning 鈥淒o not allow to enter drains or watercourses鈥�.
It also advises: 鈥淐lean tools and hands immediately after use with soap and water.鈥� Michael Francis, who spotted this, wonders where that nano-contaminated soap and water will end up if not in drains and watercourses.
FINALLY, our thanks go to Jane Graham-Leigh for sending us a photo that she suggests explains how the Inchydoney Island Lodge and Spa, a four-star hotel in Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland, manages to keep up its occupancy rates. The photo shows two very large green bins with, above them, a notice stating 鈥淕uest Recycling Centre鈥�.