62
R. Barrett and P. P. Delsanto
don’t want Cinderella, I want the story about Little Red Riding
Hood!”.
“Ah, Alice, but this is Gödel-land. Things are different here.
We can’t just restrict ourselves to the fairyland of Little Red
Riding Hood. While we’re here, we have to consider a wider
fairyland, where Cinderella, Snow-white, Pinocchio and all those
other characters live. Otherwise story-telling here isn’t possible.”
“But … but …” Alice was sure this could not be right. She had
never heard of anything so silly, but her mother was very clever,
and knew so much more than she did.
“Now let me go on, and do try to sleep.” Alice settled back
down to listen. “‘I have some cookies here,’ said Cindy’s stepmother, ‘and I would like you to deliver them to your Aunt, to
her house deep in the woods.’”.
“Mom, no!”.
“Now what?”.
“It was to her grandma, not her aunt!”.
“I know, Alice, I know. But as I told you before, here in Gödelland we can’t just limit ourselves to the world of grandmas. We
have to consider a wider world with all sorts of other relatives,
and sometimes even friends. Now, if you don’t let me continue
– without interruption – we’ll never finish.” Alice pouted, but
restrained herself with an effort, and her mother carried on.
“So, Cindy set out through the woods, and halfway to her
aunt’s, what do you think she saw, in the middle of the path,
barring her way, but a –”.
“Wolf! A big, bad wolf.” shouted Alice.
“No. Actually, it was a cat.”
“A cat?”.
“That’s right. A Cheshire cat.”
“It was a wolf. It’s always been a wolf. You’re spoiling the
story. And it’s Little Red Riding Hood, not Cinderella.”
“Now, Alice,” said her mother, beginning to lose her patience,
“You’re not listening. In Gödel-land, we can’t limit ourselves to
the world of wolves –”.
“I know, I know. I suppose we have to consider the wider
world of all animals. But I don’t like it. I don’t like it one little
bit! It’s so confusing. Why do we have to do silly things like that?
Why?”.
“Do you really want to know?”.
R. Barrett and P. P. Delsanto
don’t want Cinderella, I want the story about Little Red Riding
Hood!”.
“Ah, Alice, but this is Gödel-land. Things are different here.
We can’t just restrict ourselves to the fairyland of Little Red
Riding Hood. While we’re here, we have to consider a wider
fairyland, where Cinderella, Snow-white, Pinocchio and all those
other characters live. Otherwise story-telling here isn’t possible.”
“But … but …” Alice was sure this could not be right. She had
never heard of anything so silly, but her mother was very clever,
and knew so much more than she did.
“Now let me go on, and do try to sleep.” Alice settled back
down to listen. “‘I have some cookies here,’ said Cindy’s stepmother, ‘and I would like you to deliver them to your Aunt, to
her house deep in the woods.’”.
“Mom, no!”.
“Now what?”.
“It was to her grandma, not her aunt!”.
“I know, Alice, I know. But as I told you before, here in Gödelland we can’t just limit ourselves to the world of grandmas. We
have to consider a wider world with all sorts of other relatives,
and sometimes even friends. Now, if you don’t let me continue
– without interruption – we’ll never finish.” Alice pouted, but
restrained herself with an effort, and her mother carried on.
“So, Cindy set out through the woods, and halfway to her
aunt’s, what do you think she saw, in the middle of the path,
barring her way, but a –”.
“Wolf! A big, bad wolf.” shouted Alice.
“No. Actually, it was a cat.”
“A cat?”.
“That’s right. A Cheshire cat.”
“It was a wolf. It’s always been a wolf. You’re spoiling the
story. And it’s Little Red Riding Hood, not Cinderella.”
“Now, Alice,” said her mother, beginning to lose her patience,
“You’re not listening. In Gödel-land, we can’t limit ourselves to
the world of wolves –”.
“I know, I know. I suppose we have to consider the wider
world of all animals. But I don’t like it. I don’t like it one little
bit! It’s so confusing. Why do we have to do silly things like that?
Why?”.
“Do you really want to know?”.