Originally posted by NybesMother Simpson: [sings] How many roads must a man walk down / Before you can call him a man...
Before you can call him a man?
Show your working.
Homer: Seven.
Lisa: No, dad, it's a rhetorical question.
Homer: OK, eight.
Lisa: Dad, do you even know what "rhetorical" means?
Homer: Do I know what "rhetorical" means?
Originally posted by NybesIn fact the text of the well known song implies that we talk about a very high number, not easily to be estimated.
Before you can call him a man?
Show your working.
BUT one can try to do a bit philosophy on this one:
* How many roads? One, the right one (or the last one before being a man) Since if the road travelling is determining manhood, then you are not a man until you travelled a sufficient number of roads. You are still not man at n-1, but you are at n, so it's travelling the last one, which is making a man of you.
* How many roads? This implies the qualifier "different", since travelling always the same road would probably account to nothing.(We could make a point from this...is it worthwhile?) Since we are talking about "different roads" we talk about experience. A man should know more than his own birthplace to become a man. But what does that say about most of our ancestors who probably never travelled further than a few miles from their birthplace? This throws us directly into the definitory problem, some posters threw up before: What exactly is the definition of manhood?
* How many roads? It doesn't imply actual roads, since it is not the motion, bt the thought, and men should have explored several roads of thinking to be called "man". But here people might argue, that following the true thing from the beginning would be far better then making a big show on following blind roads?
worked enough?
shown enough manhood?
There will always be someone questioning and some questions even lead to deeper wisdom.
Cheers!
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Originally posted by CLL53Or finds someone to walk down it for him, especially if it is in Afghanistan.
One. A real man understands that walking roads is tough work after walking the first one. After that, he finds a horse or some other creature or mechanism to carry him on all roads to follow.