Riddie 21.4
Kevin is a lazy scamp, as he himself knows all too well. He can’t get a job because he’s always half an hour late to his job interviews. In an effort to change his tardy ways, he goes to his mother Susie for advice, knowing that she’s a very resourceful person. This is the advice his mother gives to him. “Kevin, my slow-witted man-child, here’s what you do. Every time you have to be somewhere at a certain time, act as you would act if you had to be there half an hour earlier than that time. The next day Kevin has a job interview at 2pm. He follows his mother’s advice, and yet he doesn’t arrive for his interview. What happened?
Show Answer
Kevin’s mother told him that whenever he was told to arrive he should act as he would act if he had to arrive half an hour earlier. So since he has to arrive at 2pm, he will act as he will act if had to arrive at 1:30pm – and how would he act if he had to arrive at 1:30pm? Well he would necessarily follow his mother’s advice and act as if he had to arrive at 1. Kevin is stuck in an infinite loop. His mother’s advice makes him constantly act as he would act half an hour earlier. Kevin has no way to decide on an arrival time, going endless backwards, unless you maybe count the beginning of time as a stopping point. So his mother wasn’t so resourceful after all. Chunt’s up with that?