17 August 2014

A little parable


Zeno of Elea was a very smart man who confounded many, many smart philosophers and mathematicians. If you had listened to him, he almost certainly would have convinced you, if you’re one to value a theory over experience, that if you stand over there and he shoots an arrow at you, that the arrow, because it will always have to traverse half the distance between the bow and your head, and then half again, in an infinite regression, will never arrive. And had you submitted to a demonstration, you might have had a final instant of cognizance with which to reevaluate your priorities.