The Learned Pig: Memory

28 June 2007

Memory

"Das habe ich gethan" sagt mein Gedächtnis. "Das kann ich nicht gethan haben" sagt mein Stoltz und bleibt unerbittlich. Endlich - giebt das Gedächtnis nach.

-Friederich Nietzsche, Jenseits von Gut und Böse

"I have done that," says my memory. "I cannot have done that," says my pride, and remains inexorable. Eventually - memory yields.

-Friederich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

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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."