Philisophy

There was one particular story that was shared to us by our teacher, a philisophy graduate of the Ateneo de Manila:

A Philisophy teacher held his examination in a empty room. He invited one student inside and started the test. He told the student, "Prove to me that the chair exists."

Seeing a chair in front of him, the student started spouting out all sorts of philisophical ideas to prove that the chair exists. After all his arguments and proving was over, the teacher said, "No, you still haven't proved to me that the chair exists." With that, the professor sent the student out, then he invited yet another student inside the room. For a while, all the students was not able to produce a satisfying answer but all that stopped when one particular student entered the room.

Once again, the professor asked, "Proved to me that the chair exists." He held his classlist and waited for the student to answer. He was wondering what kind of philosophical argument the student would make. Apparently, he wasn't seeing any hope of hearing a right answer. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a chair came flying towards his head. Sprawled on the ground, the professor heard a faint whisper, "You feel that boy? Hurt's doesn't it? If, for some wacked out reason, you didn't know, CHAIRS hurt when you get hit by 'em" Just before he fainted, the professor marked a big A next to the student's name.


Smart kid huh?


Obviously, that wasn't the real ending. What the student actually answered was...

"What chair?" The professor almost pointed to the chair sitting in front of him when he realized what the student had answered. The professor marked a big 'A' beside the student's name and let him go home.

For those who didn't get it, by asking: "What chair?" The professor was forced to point out the chair he was referring to thus, the student turned the tables around and made the professor prove to himself that the chair exists.

I don't know if the kid really thought about that answer or if he simply wanted to ask which chair the professor was referring to and just got lucky. Nevertheless, if he did mean to ask that question to perfectly answer the professor, then (due to the lack of a better expression) OMG (Oh My God)!

It's a perfect example of open-mindedness and thinking outside the box. If everyone would approach every problem with the same level of swift intellectual thinking then world peace woundn't be but a distant dream.

On a seperate note,

Hitting the professor with the chair was also a correct answer. Although, it would've knocked him unconcious and if it didn't, you would've just gotten him mad. Swinging the chair is a good answer but repercussions follow it. Finding the best answer is a different story.

The country, as it is now, should find and foster people who can find the best answer because we desperately need them. Hopefully, when these people emerge, an unfortunate incident like Agapito Flores' won't be repeated.