by Jason Stotts
I’m sure that everyone has heard the old riddle: “Is the glass half-full or half-empty?”
Well, it’s a question that I have always answered “half-full” merely because it indicates being “optimistic” as opposed to “pessimistic,” or at least that’s how the riddle usually runs.
Now for those of you who know me, I’m constantly doing philosophical “battle” with the best majors at Denison: Matt Morrell, Miriam Stetz, Mike Sato, Jake Neiheisel, Sam Benham, Amanda Klinger, Taylor McCann (who isn’t that great, just confused), and basically anyone else in range…
This is important because it sets the stage for why I’m even writing this piece.
So on Thursday I met a new girl who’s name is Ozzie Crump, who is a sophomore at Denison majoring in Psych. Anyway, the important point is that she is NOT A PHILOSOPHER and only a SOPHMORE.
While at lunch, I was having a HUGE cup of coffee and when it was at basically the halfway point, she looks at me and asks: “so is it half-full or half-empty?”
Being the typical smartass I can be sometimes, I looked into the glass hoping to say something like “it’s 20% full”, but alas it contained exactly 50% of its total volume. So I instead went with me standard “It’s half-full” line.
In response to this, she looks at me and says “You know, it seems to me that it matters whats going on – if you’re filling it then it is half-full, and if you’re emptying it then its half-empty.” She said in effect that we need to make a distinction here and keep the context in mind.
Now for anyone who understands how good of an answer this is, will understand why I nearly dropped out of my chair! She, without knowing me or my method of operation, had taken my very lines about distinction and context and said them in a nonchalant way, as if it were the easiest thing in the world!
Needless to say, I was impressed and explained to her that she had just off-handedly defeated me in a philosophical question…a feat that any of the above named majors can attest is no easy task.
So the point of all this?
1) Never think you know everything
2) Never stop questioning and take rote answers
3) Always be on the look out for intelligence, because even the cute girl across the table at the coffee shop can be more than she appears.