A Buddhist walks up to a hotdog stand and says, "Make me one with everything". The Buddhist pays the vendor and asks for change. The vendor says, "Change comes from within".
It helps to know a little about Buddhist philosophy to understand the joke, and the joke itself provides a little insight into Buddhist philosophy. And that's what Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein hope to accomplish with their book, "Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar... Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes".
Because I've known a lot of accountants - okay, at a stretch, you may call me an accountant, too - the joke that did it for me was this one (Des, are you reading this?): There's this story about this poor woman who's told by her doctor that she only has six months to live. And the doctor says, "Well, probably the best thing for you to do is to marry an accountant". And she says, "Will that improve my health?" And the doctor says, "No, but it will make six months seemed like an eternity."
Ever since I read "Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar", I've read all of Daniel Klein's other books. Today I found a nice, clean copy of "Every Time I Find the Meaning of Life, They Change It" in my favourite op-shop. I already have the hardcover in my library but this will make a nice gift to someone who, sitting in the sun on the jetty with me with a few glasses of retsina already under his belt, gets a bit introspective.
