…and this is a 
Doors
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Posted on: March 31, 2006 2:18 PM, by PZ Myers
Here's an entirely hypothetical scenario.
You're in a room with two exits, marked Door A and Door B. By each is a guardian, Guardian A and Guardian B. You need to go through one of the doors.
Door A is light and flimsy, easy to open—just turn the knob and you're through it. Reasonably enough, before charging through, you ask Guardian A what's on the other side.
"Joy and delight, an eternal life of perfect happiness, an end to doors and constant traveling…and all you have to do is turn that little knob, and believe."
That sounds too good to be true, so you ask him how he knows, and whether he has been through the door.
"No, not yet, I can only go once my tour of duty here is done. But I dream of it every night, and I can also tell you that almost everyone who has come here has gone through Door A."
You want confirmation, so you turn to Guardian B and ask if that's true.
"Yes," he says, "most people do go through Door A. I don't know if it's true about what's on the other side, though."
Door B is rather imposing: it's a huge steel block, bristling with locks and complicated gadgets. It looks like it's going to take a lot of time and cleverness and strength to get it open. It's so intimidating, you're not even sure that you'll be able to figure out how to open it. You ask Guardian B if it's as difficult as it looks.
"Oh, man, yes…it's hard. At least it was when I was your age—now I've had so much practice at it that I can go through this door easily, all the time. I'm afraid I can't just open it for you, though. I can give you suggestions and hints, but you really do have to do all the work yourself. It's a kind of admissions test to see if you'll be able to cope on the other side."
This is not entirely encouraging, and you hope there's something as good as joy and delight beyond the door, so you ask what's over there.
"Knowledge," says Guardian B. "Hard work. Interesting ideas. And doors—many more doors, each one harder than the next, and no end to them in sight. Clever people, all working together to open more doors. It's a whole world, a good but complicated place."
Guardian A screams, "HE LIES! There's a tiger on the other side that will kill and eat you. I think it's on fire, too. And worst of all, if you go through Door B, you'll never get to experience the beautiful life behind Door A. Guardian B is evil, and he wants you to suffer!"
Guardian B just rolls his eyes. He's heard this before.
"Look, kid, Guardian A means well, but he doesn't know anything. I've told you the truth about what's behind my door; maybe ol' A is right about what's behind his door, but all I've ever seen when someone opens Door A is a dark room beyond. You get to make the choice, at least so far—A and his friends want to seal off my door to 'protect' all the travelers who come through here."
Your choice. What door do you go through?
Comments
Door B, of course. Knowledge and growth, with the opportunity to always learn more. Sounds like paradise to me.
Posted by: Rik | March 31, 2006 2:35 PM
I already cast my vote. Door B of course.
Posted by: LBBP | March 31, 2006 2:35 PM
Even if Guardian A is right about what's behind his door, it sounds like life would get pretty boring there after the novelty wore off. Wasn't there an old Twilight Zone episode like this once?
Anyway, I'd be inclined to pick B, however, you left out one very important piece of information: where's the beer?
Posted by: Ray | March 31, 2006 2:37 PM
Which door did Jimi Hendrix go through?
Posted by: Great White Wonder | March 31, 2006 2:37 PM
Another group on the other side of door B is people who got tired of standing around swapping stories about the wondrous things behind door A.
I love this analogy.
Posted by: decrepitoldfool | March 31, 2006 2:38 PM
Oh yeah, does door B have stripper factories and bear volcanoes, or was that Door C?
Posted by: LBBP | March 31, 2006 2:38 PM
oops.. I meant beer volcanoes...
Posted by: LBBP | March 31, 2006 2:41 PM
Technically, you didn't say I could go one AND ONLY one door (you said, "You need to go through one of the doors.")...so I'd go through A quickly, find out the truth, and if it sucks, go through door B (eventually).
:P
Posted by: Jason Bock | March 31, 2006 2:44 PM
Great. Now I want a bear volcano.
Posted by: Jody | March 31, 2006 2:45 PM
If Guardian A were a little wordier, he'd explain to you that the presence of beer volcanoes and strippers on the other side of Door B is another reason to choose A.
Posted by: PZ Myers | March 31, 2006 2:45 PM
I'd wait for Monty Hall to open a door with a goat behind it and then switch my choice.
Posted by: Patrick | March 31, 2006 2:49 PM
Duh. Door B. Both guardians are lying--there's nothing on the other side of either door--but door B at least gives you lots of fun things to play with on your way out.
Posted by: Dianne | March 31, 2006 2:49 PM
Good catch LBBP. Bear volcanoes might just dissuade more people from choosing door B than hard work would. "There is a small risk with door B that you may be seriously injured by a bear falling from the sky. The good news is that if the furry debris doesn't kill with its impact, it certainly will with its claws".
I'm for door B. Even with a bear volcano. I'd rather take my risks and have knowledge than wander "securely" in ignorance.
Posted by: NonProphet | March 31, 2006 2:50 PM
Guradian A sounds like a jackass. Door B for me.
Posted by: Jake Blues | March 31, 2006 2:53 PM
Sounds like either Guardian B or some other person has been through door B and come back. (This is implied in the story, though not stated; if neither Guardian B nor anyone he's spoken to had never been through, how would he know all the stuff that's supposed to be going on in there?) Assuming this is so, then Door B looks like the one to pick, as if it's a bad place you may have the opportunity of returning from it. Door A, on the other hand, seems to be like a Roach Motel (you can check in but you can never check out).
OTOH if neither Guardian has been through his respective door, then you are reduced to guessing at the veracity of their stories. In which case you may as well flip a coin, as there's no way to gauge this from the story.
Posted by: jimBOB | March 31, 2006 2:54 PM
Oversimplification.
Guardian A screams, "HE LIES! There's a tiger on the other side that will kill and eat you. I think it's on fire, too. And worst of all, if you go through Door B, you'll never get to experience the beautiful life behind Door A. Guardian B is evil, and he wants you to suffer!"
Of course, you'd like to think that is how your poor metaphorical Guardian A would react. Allows you to have your fellow echo chamber sycophants keep patting you on the back.
Posted by: demoman | March 31, 2006 2:57 PM
Okay, demoman, you clever fellow, what would Guardian A say?
Posted by: Martin Wagner | March 31, 2006 3:03 PM
OK, demoman, lets hear your version of the two doors analogy.
Bear volcano. Hee, hee!
Posted by: Kayigo | March 31, 2006 3:04 PM
I guess demoman has never heard of Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson or Jack Chick or Kirk Cameron or Jimmy Swaggart or Fred Phelps or Bill O'Reilly or etc... etc...
Posted by: LBBP | March 31, 2006 3:04 PM
A bunch of clever people working together solving puzzles! Of course I'll go there. Sounds like fun...almost like a lab meeting!
As far as beer volcanoes, dunno yet, I just got my Pastafarian Manifesto today...
Posted by: coturnix | March 31, 2006 3:05 PM
Door B has a flaming tiger? I want to see that.
Posted by: Meri | March 31, 2006 3:05 PM
Look: an Echo Chamber Sycophant Troll! Beautiful plumage...
Not only would Echo Chamber Sycophants be a great band name, but I think I might start Echo Chamber Sycophant Accusation Day, where I go to every blog and make a snide remark about how everyone who posts there must of course be a sycophant and they're all talking in an echo chamber.
Truly one of the most pointless things to say in a blog's comments, ever. Echo Chamber Sycophant is the new Zombie Hitler.
Posted by: pough | March 31, 2006 3:06 PM
You're missing the best band name, which is Bear Volcano... and the Flaming Tigers.
Posted by: Kayigo | March 31, 2006 3:09 PM
Actually given the exchange of ideas here it is anything BUT an echo chamber.
Posted by: Uber | March 31, 2006 3:12 PM
I choose Door C, which is similar to Door A, but isn't a straw man argument.
Posted by: Straw Men Are a Bigot's Best Friend | March 31, 2006 3:13 PM
Demoman is right, this analogy isn't accurate! Door A should be merely painted on and Guardian A should be a child molestor.
Posted by: poke | March 31, 2006 3:17 PM
I'll take the sofa and a coffee cup. A book maybe and wait. I won't waste time arguing while there's still stuff to do in the room. I'll think about it later.
Posted by: cp | March 31, 2006 3:20 PM
You: "And what's behind this door?"
Guardian C: "Well, it's similar to Door A, but it isn't a straw man argument."
You: "...what? What does that even mean?"
Guardian C: *Runs away flapping arms above head*
Posted by: I sure make clever points in my username | March 31, 2006 3:22 PM
Bear Volcano and the Flaming Tigers, what a stage show that would be. When's their CD drop?
Posted by: Natasha Yar-Routh | March 31, 2006 3:26 PM
Great. Now I want a bear volcano.
Me, too. Maybe we could get a grant to develop one.
Posted by: RavenT | March 31, 2006 3:27 PM
I see Joel Osteen as Guardian A, Carl Sagan as Guardian B, and Edward Teach as Guardian C.
Posted by: Dwimr | March 31, 2006 3:30 PM
Re: bear volcano--actually, come to think of it, it's been done.
Posted by: RavenT | March 31, 2006 3:33 PM
Whoops, my bad--goddamn HTML!
Re: bear volcano--actually, come to think of it, it's been done.
Posted by: RavenT | March 31, 2006 3:37 PM
Of course, you'd like to think that is how your poor metaphorical Guardian A would react. Allows you to have your fellow echo chamber sycophants keep patting you on the back.
More proof that True Believers are incapable of recognizing themselves, as seen by others.
Posted by: lt.kizhe | March 31, 2006 3:40 PM
The Toasted Head Fire Breathing Bear is cool, but I have to admit I was envisioning bears being spewed from the top of a mountain as apposed to fire and lava emitting from the bear.
Posted by: LBBP | March 31, 2006 3:42 PM
Door B... B for Bear.
As in "I can't bear to go through door A."
Thought I did see the hottest little Door A Opener today. Totally Hawt Christian girl... like... 22 years old, hair down to there, short skirt... She said she was the Door A type but dressed for Door B.
What was I talking about?
Posted by: Jeffery Keown | March 31, 2006 3:42 PM
Joy and delight, an eternal life of perfect happiness
Well, duh..... Door A.
Posted by: Andy Groves | March 31, 2006 3:42 PM
I agree, LBBP--your design is better. :)
Posted by: RavenT | March 31, 2006 3:49 PM
Besides, a flaming tiger doesn't sound very threatening. I mean, it's on fire! I doubt it would be much interested in me unless I had a fire extinguisher.
Posted by: BruceH | March 31, 2006 3:50 PM
It's important to realize that you can go through door B and then go through door A later if you like. You don't have to die to go through door B.
Posted by: bmurray | March 31, 2006 3:50 PM
B. I like to solve problems.
Posted by: James Taylor | March 31, 2006 4:07 PM
Besides, a flaming tiger doesn't sound very threatening. I mean, it's on fire!
I figured the flaming tiger was some kind of mytical creature, so it could burn and not get hurt. It probably guards the bear volcano.
Posted by: Meri | March 31, 2006 4:07 PM
Which door did the chicken go through?
Posted by: skblllzzzz | March 31, 2006 4:09 PM
Demoman is right: for Guardian A didn't use nearly enough logical fallacies to remind me of anyone.
Posted by: Ian | March 31, 2006 4:10 PM
I most definitely do NOT want a bear volcano.
"It's important to realize that you can go through door B and then go through door A later if you like. You don't have to die to go through door B."
I think that's a little flaw in the scenario. It might be more appropriate, although more cumbersome, to say that behind door A everyone sits around and talks about how great it will be when the eventually get through door A', which is at the back of the room, and you can only get through if you've done the right things in room A. For room B, you gets what you sees, and there ain't no more. There isn't a B' door.
Posted by: Carlie | March 31, 2006 4:11 PM
Bear Volcano and the Flaming Tigers
I think you're a couple-and-a-half decades too late for a band name like that to fly. Gives me horrible flashbacks of guys in leopard print spandex with heavy makeup and toxic levels of hairspray.
Not that I don't mind listening to 80s butt-rock... I just can't handle looking at it.
Posted by: IAMB | March 31, 2006 4:24 PM
First thing I do is ask B to go through the door and come back, as he said. If there's a tiger, he won't come back. If he comes back, then I'm reasonably sure that A is lying. ;)
Posted by: Bob | March 31, 2006 4:33 PM
We all must choose door A; if guardian A is correct and we go through door B, we lose paradise... Is this logic not infallible?
Posted by: Pascal | March 31, 2006 4:39 PM
Kill both guardians, wait for the next guy to show up, tell him to go thru door A first.
find out what happens.
Posted by: whatsinaname | March 31, 2006 4:44 PM
Assuming Guardian B has observed accurately, we know three things about Door A:
1) People can open it.
2) He can't see any light in the space beyond Door A when someone opens it.
3) Many people have gone through it anyway.
Can we see anything beyond Door A if we shine a light into the doorway? Has anyone ever exited through either door? If I turn my back and promise not to peek at how he opens it, will Guardian B open Door B, just to prove to me that it can be opened? Alternately, can I wait for a while, and observe people opening and going through both doors?
I don't see why I should take either of these people at their word, although given the story as is, I'd be less inclined to think that Guardian B was an asshole. I still wouldn't just take him at his word, though.
If I could satisfy myself that Guardian B's knowledge of the world beyond Door B was accurate, I'd find a light source and explore Door A. I would not, however, be inclined to "believe" in anything as I did so, unless I could experimentally verify that believing in different things changed what I found beyond the door.
Posted by: Corwin | March 31, 2006 4:47 PM
I just want you to know, now I have a song from my early childhood Sunday School years stuck in my head, and it hadn't resurfaced in years.
"One door and only one
and yet it's sides are two;
Inside and outside
on which side are you?
One door and only one
and yet it's sides are two;
I'm on the inside
on which side are you?"
F***ing bastards.
Posted by: Carlie | March 31, 2006 4:50 PM
I would suspect that Door A and Door B led to the same room and that the whole thing was a prank.
There is bound to be a revival of "80s retro" one of these days. Bear Volcano and the Flaming Tigers could be cutting edge.
Posted by: John | March 31, 2006 4:53 PM
I would check the ceiling to see if I could get out that way. If not, I'd try to figure out how I got there, and retrace my steps. Then I'd try to peek through keyholes. Then, of course, we start asking the guardians who is lying and whether they ever tell lies... Ask Guardian A how he knows what's behind door B....
Then finally dig a tunnel to a less manichean room....
Posted by: thomis | March 31, 2006 4:55 PM
Door B. I bet one of the doors inside is the back way into Room A. Then you open the door, turn on the bear volcano, and watch 2 Kings 2:23-25 get recreated.
Posted by: aiabx | March 31, 2006 4:55 PM
Seems this story tries to paint the picture that you can have knowledge or you can have belief, and never the twain shall meet. I disagree.
Belief is an extension of knowledge. You take what you know to be true, or are pretty darn sure is true, and extrapolate/interpolate from there. Call it an inference if you want.
Posted by: Lurker | March 31, 2006 5:20 PM
Wow. Glad I found you. This is definately one of my new favorite blogs. Thanks! -JJ
Posted by: Jaundice James | March 31, 2006 5:28 PM
"Belief is an extension of knowledge." I don't believe you. Belief is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for knowledge.
Posted by: Perlocutionary | March 31, 2006 5:28 PM
I don't know about Bear Volcanos, but how about a Bear Garden.
Also, do you have to choose right away? Is this one of those if you wait too long your lamp will go out and if you try to move then you will be eaten by a groo things?
Posted by: JP | March 31, 2006 5:29 PM
Edward Teach? He's guarding the door with stolen treasure behind it, but when you ask him what's behind his door, he runs you through with a cutlass before the question is finished.
Posted by: Russell | March 31, 2006 5:30 PM
Door B
I wonder how long before everyone will choose door B.
Posted by: Fred Gray | March 31, 2006 5:57 PM
You forgot to mention that Hank is waiting behind Door A with your million dollars.
But still no sauerkraut.
Posted by: Heliologue | March 31, 2006 5:57 PM
I ask gaurdian A if they have a stripper factory and beer volcano. If so, that's just a bet I'm going to have to take. Otherwise, I get out my lockpicks.
Posted by: Tiax | March 31, 2006 6:04 PM
silly people, bear volcanoes can't be developed, but if you pray very hard maybe one will be designed for you. Oh, wait, I forgot, praying doesn't work.
Posted by: JLem | March 31, 2006 6:06 PM
Bear volcano is scary whether it's a bear spewing lava or a mountain spewing bears. Beer volcano is scary depending on the amount and kind of beer. As for the question, there are no guardians, there is only one door, and you've already passed through it. It's a zen thing.
Posted by: larry talbot | March 31, 2006 6:20 PM
"I don't know about Bear Volcanos, but how about a Bear Garden."
Isn't a bear garden where you'd go for Oktoberfest?
Posted by: Carlie | March 31, 2006 6:22 PM
We all must choose door A; if guardian A is correct and we go through door B, we lose paradise... Is this logic not infallible?
Yes, it is. Pascal was the master of the fallacy of limited options.
His Wager is intellectual nonsense.
Posted by: Robert S. | March 31, 2006 6:29 PM
The scariest of all, though, is a volcano that is spewing bears who are spewing lava out of their mouths.
I'm afraid I give the door scenario a meh. But I like how most of this gang are trying to hack it to make it better.
Posted by: Pete | March 31, 2006 6:36 PM
Oktobearfest, actually.
Posted by: RavenT | March 31, 2006 6:37 PM
BTW that Kiss Hank's Ass thing is brilliant
Posted by: JLem | March 31, 2006 6:38 PM
This reminds me of an urban legend about the medical specialist certification exams in Canada (US equivalent would be the Board Exams). In this particular specialty (it always seems to be one of the surgical specialties) the candidates spend their several days slogging through various written, oral and practical exams. On the last day, the candidates gather in a room with two doors. Each one is handed a piece of paper telling them which door to go through. The successful candidates enter a room where all the examiners have gathered, they are handed a drink, and a nice little party ensues. The others go through a door that enters the alley behind the building, where they can slink out of town unseen...
Oh, yeah, I would take door B.
Posted by: T. Bruce McNeely | March 31, 2006 6:56 PM
"BTW that Kiss Hank's Ass thing is brilliant"
There's one major flaw in the tale of Hank. The choices should be: do what Hank says and you'll get to stay in town and collect the million bucks, or reject Hank's offer and move to another town with nothing.
Posted by: Lurker | March 31, 2006 7:02 PM
But, If it's all the same to everyone, I will stay here and live it up. Why go anywhere else when we have it all here. Peace we find within ourselves, good times with our friends, challenges in our life and people who will work with us to solve them. Here sounds pretty good to me
Posted by: Opalgouger | March 31, 2006 7:09 PM
"Eternal life and perfect happiness".... these two states seem mutually exclusive to me.
Does no one else take solace in that we aren't forever? I can not think of a greater torture than never being able to return to the void from which I came (not that I'm in a hurry to do so, mind you... the novelty of existing hasn't yet worn off).
Posted by: Martha | March 31, 2006 7:21 PM
As a PC user, it's door B for me. My marriage is nearly a mixed one, as my wife is an apostate Mac user.
As Steve Jobs said to The Beatles, Sosumi.
Posted by: Ken Cope | March 31, 2006 7:26 PM
Of course, you'd like to think that is how your poor metaphorical Guardian A would react. Allows you to have your fellow echo chamber sycophants keep patting you on the back.
I don't care what's behind them, just tell me which door Demoman is going thru and I'll take the other one.
Posted by: george cauldron | March 31, 2006 7:33 PM
Hmm, either way it sounds like I'm at the mercy of some wicked machinations. Why do I have to choose two scary doors? Who put me here? Do both these guardians work for the evil bastard who put me here? Given my situation, it seems likely that both doors just lead to some crazy rooms designed as thematic booby traps, while some brandy-sipping supervillain watches me through cameras, as he strokes his black cat and laughs maniacally. Meanwhile, every time I escape the last trap and near death, I just encounter another room with more deadly traps. The trick to survival isn't to play by the rules of Death House, but to try and work outside the rules of Death House. Instead of doors, look behind curtains and under furniture. Try to find wires, holes, anything you're not supposed to see. Look for hidden vulnerabilities in the set-up.
I won't lie to you, chances of survival look slim, but even evil geniuses tend to leave small holes in their plans, you just have to find them.
Posted by: Jason Malloy | March 31, 2006 8:02 PM
I keep trying to wrap my mind around what a pyroclawstic flow would look like. I'm sure it would be absolutely terrifying.
Posted by: James Taylor | March 31, 2006 8:03 PM
"Oktobearfest, actually."
Damn, I can't believe I missed that!
Posted by: Carlie | March 31, 2006 8:19 PM
Are you guys serious? You'd really pick B if you didn't know it was the good atheist answer? No thought, drop of a hat, "B"?
Don't you want to know if opening harder and harder doors gets tiring? Or boring? What happens if you pick A and it is a dark room? How long do you have to sit in the dark?
I usually like PZ's parables a good deal. The world of funny hats was awesome. But I'm not sure that this one is as convincing.
Posted by: todd. | March 31, 2006 8:34 PM
I am late to the party, but the answer is Door B, every time.
Posted by: Christian | March 31, 2006 8:43 PM
So on the parable scale this one is slightly below 'hats', but much better than 'plumbing'.
todd, the answer is yes, we want to know ... by experiencing instead of being told or believing.
Posted by: with a Y | March 31, 2006 8:43 PM
I think most of you don't get it, maybe even the author ;P
It's should not be about a choice where to go after death (or something you were thinking of, like believing in irrational things or not).
It looks like a choice we are doing as a scientist (we are all scientists, right?) now in our lifes.
Guardian A propose a happy/easy life without a worry who actually work for us/delivers us a joy/food/drinks/etc.. (maybe at the cost of beeing someone else's bitch, who knows?, the question is: do you believe it is possible to life like this without any consequences?)
Guardian B propose the endless struggle, not sleeping at nights, sacrificing yourself to figure out some patterns / regularities in the world, working hard, developing new tools etc...
Fortunately in reality you can try both and balance those things... so suck my dick scums :P
Posted by: Tom | March 31, 2006 8:48 PM
Wait a minute. "You're in a room with two exits, marked Door A and Door B." How did I get INTO this room? Why don't I just ask these "guardians" which door I entered through?
Posted by: Bride Of Acheron | March 31, 2006 8:58 PM
Quite apart from anything else, it's not a very convincing parable because PZ left out that we all go through Door A eventually, whether Guardian A's claims are true or false and whether you've previously gone through Door B or not.
Posted by: Mike | March 31, 2006 9:12 PM
I"d ask the guardians:
Which door did Jerry Falwell go through?
And I'd choose the other.
Posted by: tristero | March 31, 2006 9:13 PM
This is what you hath wrought, PZ. Congratulations.
In any case, I take issue with the simplification too. You may get satisfaction out of working on a hard problem, but I pity the fool who justifies his existence by it. Give me A, or give me meaningful knowledge.
Posted by: Bleach | March 31, 2006 9:30 PM
So, when is the "Doors" game release date, and is it really true there is an infinite number of doors and levels behind door B? If so, obviously that's the road to godhood in this game.
Posted by: Torbjorn Larsson | March 31, 2006 9:58 PM
If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.
Posted by: WillIam Blake | March 31, 2006 10:10 PM
""I don't see why I should take either of these people at their word, although given the story as is, I'd be less inclined to think that Guardian B was an asshole. I still wouldn't just take him at his word, though.""
So what if you asked Guardian B to show you something that was behind the door and he opened the door, went in, and returned with a margarita, an ipod, a pair of hot leapord skin pants. Then Guardian A starts shouting that Guardian B is evil and you should kill him.
Posted by: Gibbon | March 31, 2006 10:14 PM
Bleach: Give me A, or give me meaningful knowledge.
Find your own!
Meanwhile, I'm going to figure out where Door B goes.
Posted by: Hellesfarne | March 31, 2006 10:15 PM
Bleach: "hath" is equivalent to present tense "s" ending, so "has." So you said "This is what you has wrought, PZ." Erk.
You're just arguing semantically. Given the major tenets shared by most religion, belief >> worship (to wit: asskissing). And, since the opposite of salvation is damnation, "move to another town with nothing" is logically equivalent to "Hank will kick your ass." Or, if you're picky about free well, "You have to let Hank kick your ass."
Posted by: Heliologue | March 31, 2006 10:18 PM
That's just so ... predictable. I think you rob the process of obtaining knowledge of some of its meaning when you are so glib about it. This parable doesn't say anything about knowledge. It's only about picking locks in a group. There's no indication that you learn about anything beyond locks; it's almost like some kind of dystopian relativist conception of science.
In fact, you're still choosing B because you were told and believed that there isn't a paradise beyond door A. You could say, "Well, we don't have any reason to believe there is." But shit, you don't have any reason to believe there's any knowledge behind door B, either.
In the real world, these problems have meaningful solutions. We do have reasons to believe that the conduct of science produces a meaningful knowledge, an understanding of the world. We understand that it isn't simply "puzzle solving." And we reject mysticism because we understand what we're giving up if we don't. But this parable doesn't convey any of that. You're just choosing "knowledge" because that's what good fans of PZ Myers are supposed to do.
Posted by: todd. | March 31, 2006 10:40 PM
"So what if you asked Guardian B to show you something that was behind the door and he opened the door, went in, and returned with a margarita, an ipod, a pair of hot leapord skin pants. Then Guardian A starts shouting that Guardian B is evil and you should kill him."
So in that case Guardian A is an asshole, and Guardian B is trustworthy. I still want to know what's behind Door A. Why should I deprive myself of knowledge because someone else is a moron?
Posted by: Corwin | March 31, 2006 10:49 PM
do the James T Kirk thing: hack the doors to open both, not going through them, and entire those who have to return and report.
Posted by: ekzept | March 31, 2006 10:51 PM
"entire" --> "entice". can't type this late. ciao.
Posted by: ekzept | March 31, 2006 10:59 PM
Presuming that the doors are meant to represent religious faith and the scientific method, then I think the story is a poor metaphor.
You don't find out what's behind Door B without going through it, but the rewards of science don't require that you die before reaping them.
Posted by: Caledonian | March 31, 2006 11:14 PM
What is amazing is that highly educated folks, as most of you, are still locked into these childhood Sunday school tales. Alas, I sort of expect it of the less educated, those who scraped by just to finish high school, then for evermore are in some mind numbing labor, so okay, I understand them seeking the easy out. But those in high positions who are locked into childhood Sunday school theology, I would think it just silly were it not that these folks have power to misuse. Yes, confront the fools. But in your quest to preserve the sciences to all the 'what/when/how' questions, please allow room for some who are serious in their quest to understand the 'why' question. For I do think most modern theologians have grown past the 'classical proofs of God' by Anselm or Aquinas, even we agree that to our modern minds they seem contrived.
Shalom,
Bro. Bartleby
Posted by: Bro. Bartleby | March 31, 2006 11:42 PM
"I'll take the bag!"
Posted by: Mrs. Presky | April 1, 2006 12:14 AM