DescentBB

The answer to that question...

If I was to start out with a white piece of paper, and paint black lines down it so approximately half the paper was covered in black, and the other half was white, you (or at least most of you) would say that the paper was white with black stripes. Why? Because the paper was originally white.

Black is the absence of all light. White, on the other hand, is presence of all light.
But, pigment is the opposite. Something that appears to be of green color actually absorbs everything *except* for green. So, white is the absence of all pigment, and black is the presence of all pigment.

Zebras, we can assume, are not made out of light.

Therefore, a zebra with the absence of all pigment would be completely white. One would assume that it would make more sense to start out with no pigment and add some in as one goes along, rather than starting with all pigment, and using an eraser to create the same image (although the latter produces some very cool results).

Zebras, therefore, are white with black stripes.

let me guess .. you're studying logic.


does it matter to the zebra? Is there a distrimination suit involved? and i don't think that erasers are used on them.

Actually. Your conclusion, i think, is incorrect. Since Zebra are born with stripes they "have black and white stripes." To say they are white with black stripes implies they were completely white then gained the stripes at a later time; much like Dalmations get thier spots later.

Nope, not studying logic, I was in the shower... same thing

Lol.... it's not the true order of what happens that matters... it's the apparent order. If you open an application with two windows, and they both come up instantly, the human mind percieves that the one on top came up later.

If we killed all the zebras, this wouldn't be a problem.

but you see. This IS a matter of perception and semantics.


btw .. yur right about the shower .. but let us stop there.

Nitrofox125 wrote:Zebras, therefore, are white with black stripes.

The beauty of humanity is a 4 year old could tell you this without all the reasoning or semantics.

From the mouth of babes...

if the stripes on zebras were made of dark matter, which i assume has no pigment, yet also reflects no light (i'm making this up). and since dark matter is so plentiful in teh universe (this is true), it woudl make sense to make a zebra of it, and then paint on more valueable white stripes of matter.

so Zebras would be uh... dark (not black) with white stripes.

So now we know where all the dark matter in the universe is! It's in teh zebras.

....and if the Zebra floats.. can we burn it for being a witch? Or just feather it?

Don't try to be a rational thinker if you don't have a rational mind, is what I say. For us rationals, this is a no-brainer.

Why can't they be pink that was then painted black and white?

hmmmm...I had to meditate on this...my answer to the koan is thus:

The Buddha's laughter refreshes the wildebeast and the zebra alike.

WarAdvocat wrote:hmmmm...I had to meditate on this...my answer to the koan is thus:

The Buddha's laughter refreshes the wildebeast and the zebra alike.

that is to say.. "..running away in a blind panick..."

Tricord wrote:Don't try to be a rational thinker if you don't have a rational mind, is what I say. For us rationals, this is a no-brainer.

not everyone is always rational all the time. een i can have my moments of rationality.