This cracker courtesy of InstantFundas
Want to play a game? Alright! Start at any Wikipedia page and click the first link you encounter in the main text of the article, and then repeat the process for subsequent articles. Eventually you’ll end up at the article about Philosophy. The first link on the Philosophy article takes you to Problem which returns you back to Philosophy. It has been estimated that more than 95% of all Wikipedia articles exhibit this phenomenon which was first discovered in May 2008.
The path from a Wikipedia article to Philosophy takes unlikely routes, for instance, starting at Tacos you are taken through 19 steps via subjects such as Uto-Aztecan languages, Pre-Columbian era, Archaeology, Primate and Taxonomy, and finally ending at the Philosophy-Problem loop. Some routes are short – Samsung to Philosophy takes 11 steps, while others are long winded – Tandoori Chicken to Philosophy goes through 29 steps with stops at Astronomical object and Mammal.
WikiLoopr is an amusing little application that shows you these routes. Enter any term for which a Wikipedia article exist in the search box and press Enter. Then watch the chain of events unfold.
Well now, let’s do that with the stuff that’s been in the news in recent days here in Australia…
what about….
- Tony Abbott
- List of Australian Leaders of the Opposition
- Government of Australia
- Australia
- Australia (continent)
- Continent
- Landmass
- Land
- Earth
- Planet
- Astronomical object
- Entity
- Abstraction
- First principle
- Axiom
- Logic
- Reason
- Human
- Primate
- Mammal
- Class (biology)
- Biological classification
- Taxonomy
- Academic discipline
- Knowledge
- Fact
- Reality
- Philosophy
- Problem
took a weird turn for a moment there. And finally…
Remarkable
Thanks Dave, filled in a few minutes on a slow afternoon after a big week. Interesting to compare different paths: baked beans took 11 steps; Lindt took 29 steps (not exactly a great diet I know!). I always thought there was something philosophical about baked beans.
Fluff, however, got stuck in my internet filter after navel lint.
Matt
Atheism is 3 steps from Philosophy and New Atheism is 8. That corresponds with my observation that New Atheists have less respect for philosophy than their forebears.