{"id":3769,"date":"2019-05-21T04:11:57","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T04:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2019\/05\/21\/of-apples-and-sparkplugs\/"},"modified":"2019-05-21T04:11:57","modified_gmt":"2019-05-21T04:11:57","slug":"of-apples-and-sparkplugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2019\/05\/21\/of-apples-and-sparkplugs\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Apples and Sparkplugs"},"content":{"rendered":"

All too frequently people say, \u2018You\u2019re comparing apples and oranges\u2019 in order to convey the idea that two things are so dissimilar as to disallow any significant comparison. Can\u2019t they do better than this? Apples and oranges are highly comparable in respects too numerous to mention. Both are fruits, both are edible, both grow on trees, both are good sources of fiber, both contain Vitamin C, and so on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why not say, \u2018You are comparing apples and sparkplugs\u2019? Apples are naturally occurrent and edible while sparkplugs are inedible artifacts. That\u2019s a serious difference. Or, 'You are comparing prime numbers and prime ministers.' Or, 'You are comparing anorexic girls and over-inflated basketballs.'<\/span><\/p>\n

This reminds me of a story I read as a boy in my hometown newspaper. A man once ate an entire car, sparkplugs and all. A feat of automotive asceticism to rival the pillar antics of Simon Stylites. He did it by cutting the car and its parts into small pieces that he then washed down with generous libations of buttermilk. <\/span><\/p>\n

But a car is not just solid parts, but various fluids. You\u2019ve got your gasoline, your crankcase oil, your tranny fluid, not to mention coolant, windshield wiper liquid, and what all else. How did he negotiate that stuff? Well, I suppose anything can be passed through the gastrointestinal system if sufficiently chopped up or watered down. <\/span><\/p>\n

So if a man gets it into his head to eat an entire car, he can do it. As my fourth grade teacher Sr Elizabeth (Lizard) Marie used to say, "Where there\u2019s a will there\u2019s a way."<\/span><\/p>\n

A good piece of folk wisdom that has served me well.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All too frequently people say, \u2018You\u2019re comparing apples and oranges\u2019 in order to convey the idea that two things are so dissimilar as to disallow any significant comparison. Can\u2019t they do better than this? Apples and oranges are highly comparable in respects too numerous to mention. Both are fruits, both are edible, both grow on … Continue reading “Of Apples and Sparkplugs”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autobiographical","category-language-matters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3769\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}