25 lines
3.6 KiB
HTML
25 lines
3.6 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
|
||
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>mu</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../M.html" title="M"/><link rel="previous" href="MS-DOS.html" title="MS-DOS"/><link rel="next" href="MUD.html" title="MUD"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">mu</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="MS-DOS.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">M</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="MUD.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="mu"/><dt xmlns="" id="mu"><b>mu</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/moo/</span></dt></dt><dd><p> The correct answer to the classic trick question “<span class="quote">Have you
|
||
stopped beating your wife yet?</span>”. Assuming that you have no wife or
|
||
you have never beaten your wife, the answer “<span class="quote">yes</span>” is wrong
|
||
because it implies that you used to beat your wife and then stopped, but
|
||
“<span class="quote">no</span>” is worse because it suggests that you have one and are
|
||
still beating her. According to various Discordians and Douglas Hofstadter
|
||
the correct answer is usually “<span class="quote">mu</span>”, a Japanese word alleged to
|
||
mean “<span class="quote">Your question cannot be answered because it depends on
|
||
incorrect assumptions</span>”. Hackers tend to be sensitive to logical
|
||
inadequacies in language, and many have adopted this suggestion with
|
||
enthusiasm. The word ‘mu’ is actually from Chinese, meaning
|
||
‘nothing’; it is used in mainstream Japanese in that sense. In
|
||
Chinese it can also mean “<span class="quote">have not</span>” (as in “<span class="quote">I have not
|
||
done it</span>”), or “<span class="quote">lack of</span>”, which may or may not be a
|
||
definite, complete 'nothing'). Native speakers of Japanese do not
|
||
recognize the Discordian question-denying use, which almost certainly
|
||
derives from overgeneralization of the answer in the following well-known
|
||
Rinzai Zen <a href="../K/koan.html"><i class="glossterm">koan</i></a>:</p><div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><p>
|
||
A monk asked Joshu, “<span class="quote">Does a dog have the Buddha nature?</span>” Joshu
|
||
retorted, “<span class="quote">Mu!</span>” </p></blockquote></div><p>See also <a href="../H/has-the-X-nature.html"><i class="glossterm">has the X nature</i></a>,
|
||
<a href="../koans.html" title="Some AI Koans">Some AI Koans</a>, and Douglas Hofstadter's <i class="citetitle">Gödel, Escher,
|
||
Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid</i> (pointer in the
|
||
<a href="../pt03.html#bibliography" title="Bibliography">Bibliography</a> in Appendix C.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="MS-DOS.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../M.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="MUD.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">MS-DOS </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> MUD</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
|