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Thursday, August 21, 2008 Philosophy From CarTalk By Paul Hsieh @ 1:16 PM As an occasional listener of the NPR show "CarTalk", I was amused to hear this listener's letter on the following classic philosophical question: I am writing to offer profound thanks to you for resolving an important philosophical question that has been heatedly debated for the last twenty years. The rumination began on a construction site one summer in the early 1970's, as my friend Jamie and I were working our way through college. The question we raised and have agonized over, lo these many years, is one that I've never read about in any philosophical treatise, and yet I have found it has applied to countless situations and conversations overheard in bars, repair shops, sporting events, political debates, etc. etc. etc. Posit the question: Do two people who don't know what they are talking about know more or less than one person who doesn't know what he's talking about? (Pardon the un-PC masculine pronoun, but I have found this to be, most predominately, a male phenomenon.) In your recent conversations regarding electric brakes on a cattle carrier, I believe you definitely answered this query and have put our debate to rest. Amazingly enough, you proved that even in a case where one person might know nothing about a subject, it is possible for two people to know even less! One person will only go so far out on a limb in his construction of deeply hypothetical structures, and will often end with a shrug or a raising of hands to indicate the dismissability of his particular take on a subject. With two people, the intricacies, the gives and takes, the wherefores and why-nots, can become a veritable pas-de-deux of breathtaking speculation, interwoven in such a way that apologies or gestures of doubt are rendered unnecessary. I had always suspected this was the case, but no argument I could have built from my years of observation would have so satisfyingly closed the door on the subject as your performance on the cattle carrier call. To begin your comments by saying, "We'll answer your question if you tell us how electric brakes work" and "We've never heard of electric brakes" and then indulge in lengthy theoretical hypostulations on the whys and wherefores of the caller's problem allowed me to observe that you were finally putting this gnarly question to rest. I am forever indebted to you for the great service you have performed! I'm truly impressed that it took so many years of listening to your show to finally have this matter resolved. Sincerely, Andy R. Labels: Funny   E-mail Paul Hsieh    PermaLink ()    Comments [5] (New Page)

Comments on "Philosophy From CarTalk"
	Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 15:37:11 mst Comment ID: #1 Name: Frank E-mail: oney(at)buffnet.net After reading this clever piece, and while still pondering its true significance, I happened to gaze down upon the next two articles. Then it hit me, like the proverbial "bolt out of the blue". The absurd "Religious Left" of the one article, and the inexplicable fashion types that are the subject of another, are hereby explained! One need only apply induction to extend the principle revealed in this article to larger groups!
	Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 17:42:56 mst Comment ID: #2 Name: Aaron Davies E-mail: agd12(at)columbia.edu Note to anyone who's never heard Car Talk: you should really find a clip and listen to at least a couple minutes, just so you can "hear" that letter in Click and Clack's voices--it makes it even funnier.
	Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 20:04:04 mst Comment ID: #3 Name: Paul Hsieh E-mail: paul(at)geekpress(dot)com URL: http://www.geekpress.com Those who want to listen to the letter can hear it on the 8/2/2008 show: http://www.cartalk.com/ct/review/show.jsp?showid=200831 I downloaded it for free as an iTunes podcast but it might not be available online any more: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=25 ... The relevant clip began at 18:00 minutes.
	Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 21:53:34 mst Comment ID: #4 Name: Mike Hardy E-mail: hardy(at)math.umn.edu I've never listened to Car Talk much, but when I took my car to their garage in Cambridge, MA, once I heard one of them talking on his cell phone, placing and order for a dictionary of Sanskrit religious terms. How many auto mechanics do things like that?
	Monday, August 25, 2008 at 18:19:26 mst Comment ID: #5 Name: Roger Zimmerman E-mail: roger(at)escription.com Both of the Magliozzi brothers went to MIT, with undergraduate degrees in scientific fields. IALTCTF (I am a long time Car Talk Fan). Their show is very mixed philosophically , but the good features outweigh the bad, especially in the context that this is an NPR production. On the plus side, intermingled with lots of their special brand of humor - which I often find hilarious, but which is probably an acquired taste - is a remarkable display of genuine rationality. They know a lot about cars, and a lot about the typical problems that cars experience. They are extremely skilled at eliciting useful information (such as particular sounds the car makes, and the precise circumstances under which a problem manifests) from the vehicle owners. And, in the face of acknowledged uncertainty (since, after all, they can't see the cars in question), they deftly apply logic and inference to arrive at very plausible diagnoses. I have used their method several times with my mechanic (i.e., I have described the problems the way the callers on Car Talk are asked to describe them), and this has helped the repair process. On the minus side, it is clear that they have absorbed the modern liberal's disdain for profit and "big" business, and that they accept the guilt which environmentalism demands of those that have any professional connection to the internal combustion engine. I have written them several polite, supportive letters to point out the illogic of this latter position, and have received no response. Still, if you enjoy a good pun, or if you want to learn a little bit about how your car works and how to keep it running better, you could do worse than listen to Car Talk for an hour once in a while.
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