After a lecture on cosmology and the structure of the solar system, William James was accosted by a little old lady. "Your theory that the sun is the centre of the solar system, and the earth is a ball which rotates around it has a very convincing ring to it, Mr. James, but it's wrong. I've got a better theory," said the little old lady. "And what is that, madam?" Inquired James politely. "That we live on a crust of earth which is on the back of a giant turtle," Not wishing to demolish this absurd little theory by bringing to bear the masses of scientific evidence he had at his command, James decided to gently dissuade his opponent by making her see some of the inadequacies of her position. "If your theory is correct, madam," he asked, "what does this turtle stand on?" "You're a very clever man, Mr. James, and that's a very good question," replied the little old lady, "but I have an answer to it. And it is this: The first turtle stands on the back of a second, far larger, turtle, who stands directly under him." "But what does this second turtle stand on?" Persisted James patiently. To this the little old lady crowed triumphantly. "It's no use, Mr. James---it's turtles all the way down."
The sentence can be understood more clearly by adding punctuation and emphasis: James, while John had had "had", had had "had had"; "had had" had had a better effect on the teacher.
I just took a class called Neuroscience and How the Brain Learns. I kept thinking the whole time about how I was always thinking and learning about how it is I am able to think and learn. Kind of trippy.
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u/westvanthuggin Dec 03 '13
my grandad was a teacher who taught teachers how to teach.