PinkerBot

The student Doko came to a Zen master, and said:
"I am seeking the truth. In what state of mind should I train myself, so as to find it?"
Said the master, "There is no mind,
so you cannot put it in any state.
There is no truth, so you cannot train yourself for it."
"If there is no mind to train, and no truth to find,
why do you have these monks gather before you every day to study Zen and train themselves for this study?"
"But I haven't an inch of room here," said the master,
"so how could the monks gather? I have no tongue, so how could I call them together or teach them?"
"Oh, how can you lie like this?" asked Doko.
"But if I have no tongue to talk to others, how can I lie to you?" asked the master.
Then Doko said sadly, "I cannot follow you. I cannot understand you."
"I cannot understand myself," said the master.
Whatever happens, where or when,
we're prone to wonder who or what's responsible.
This leads us to discover explanations that we might not
otherwise imagine, and that helps us predict and control
not only what happens in the world, but also
what happens in our minds. But what
if those same tendencies should lead us
to imagine things and causes that do not exist?
Then we'll invent false gods and superstitions
and see their hand in every chance coincidence.
Indeed, perhaps that strange word "I" --
as used in "I just had a good idea" --
reflects the selfsame tendency.
If you're compelled to find some
cause that causes everything you do --
why, then, that something needs a name.
You call it "me." I call it "you."
- Marvin Minksy
This profile was edited with qnun.com Editor