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Why not?

OutsideTheBauksiOutsideTheBauksi
edited 2011-08-19 23:01:22 in General
sleep is for the we[e/a]k

I had an english teacher who told us a story of a philosophy exam consisting of one question, "Why?". All the students wrote page long essays, save one who only replied with "Why not?". He was the only one to pass the exam.

Does anyone here know if this story is factual and have confirming links, or is it just a little bit of teacher apocrypha?

You thought this would be a snowclone didn't you?

Comments

  • DonZabuDonZabu
    I doubt it.
  • NyktosNyktos
    edited 2011-08-19 23:06:40
    a little muffled
    If it's true, that teacher is a dickhead.

    But yeah, I'm guessing bullshit. Have you tried Snopes?

    Edit: Found it. No definitive answer, unsurprisingly.
  • ViviVivi
    edited 2011-08-19 23:10:23
    $80+ per session
    He should have done it the other way around, just to be even more of a dickhead, but still a normal teacher.
  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!
    Pretty much any teacher I've known would've given an auto-F for trying to pass laziness off as cleverness.
  • ViviVivi
    $80+ per session
    Same.
  • MalkavianMalkavian
    MORONS! I'VE GOT MORONS ON MY PAYROLL!
    Considering that philosophy=/= pithy wit I doubt the story is true.
  • ViviVivi
    edited 2011-08-19 23:26:50
    $80+ per session
    Now I'm thinking about what I would answer the exam with. I'd consider writing about why it's a stupid question. I'd also consider filling it with nothing but rebuttal Why questions.
  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!
    I'd have said something utilitarian about the survival of the species and how that's justified by the fact that a decision that's reversible is a safer bet than one that isn't.
  • MalkavianMalkavian
    MORONS! I'VE GOT MORONS ON MY PAYROLL!
    I'd probably answer 'Just 'cause' which wouldn't be much better but honestly it would be a dumb test question.
  • ViviVivi
    $80+ per session
    Yeah. I'd probably fill it with questions like "Why? Why Not? Why are you asking this question? Why are you giving us some obtuse excuse to be profound when you could be actually testing our academic ability? Why do you think this question will provoke any of the "late bloomers" of the class, as you call them?"
  • DonZabuDonZabu
    edited 2011-08-19 23:32:00
    ^ That's about what I would've said, though the 'late bloomers' part kind of seems out-of-nowhere to me.
  • ViviVivi
    $80+ per session
    It would be a bit of a stretch. I would just try to fill it with snarky "Why?" questions. Eventually it would just turn into jokes.
  • Wicked223Wicked223
    We Played Some Open Chords and Rejoiced, For the Earth Had Circled the Sun Yet Another Year
    false
  • NyktosNyktos
    a little muffled
    I linked that already...
  • inkblotinkblot
    edited 2011-08-19 23:50:25
    000
    I would give the teacher a blank sheet of paper except for a period on the very end.

    If he/she is going to ask the most obtuse question, I will give the most obtuse answer.
  • ViviVivi
    $80+ per session
    Or I would draw a picture.
  • NyktosNyktos
    edited 2011-08-20 01:10:42
    a little muffled
    @inkblot:
    If he/she is going to ask the most obtuse question, I will give the most obtuse answer.
    This makes me want to suggest drawing a 179° angle.
  • MalkavianMalkavian
    MORONS! I'VE GOT MORONS ON MY PAYROLL!
    ^
  • GelzoGelzo
    Pony Sleuth
    How about, "Not enough information provided."
  • Wicked223Wicked223
    We Played Some Open Chords and Rejoiced, For the Earth Had Circled the Sun Yet Another Year
    I would've wrote "Because fuck you".

    or not
  • ForzareForzare
    Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the last Day.
    I heard this story, only the way my teacher told it, the student wrote "Because."
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