The Learned Pig: CPR

06 June 2007

CPR

You know what the motto of the New York Police Department is? It's written on all of their cop cars: "CPR: Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect." Three words that mean exactly the same thing. I mean, could one really be respectful without being courteous? Could one be professional without being respectful?

You can tell that they thought of the catchy abbreviation before they came up with the words themselves. Here's a better version of CPR: Control Police Redundancy!

No comments:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Why the learned pig?

In early 19th-century America, a certain traveling show featured a remarkable pig that, on command, could spell out letters to form words. This "pig of knowledge", or "learned pig", baffled superstitious mobs, and excited frenzied accusations of witchcraft. In response, the pig's trainer published a pamphlet that sought to dispel the rumors by detailing his methods of instruction, and demonstrating that this apparent miracle could be accounted for through reason and observation alone.

Tacitus once wrote, "everything unknown passes for something splendid." Humans by nature desire to know, and when they encounter something seemingly inexplicable, they tend to fill in the holes with religion, superstition, or inane anti-intellectualism that dismisses the need for knowledge altogether. But these are cowardly subsitutes for reason and observation. The learned pig reminds us that if we wish to be wise, "observe; for observation is the source of wisdom."