Amber, who came up with it our sophomore year in high school, and all of you
who have ever been subjected to the analyzation of this situation. This
discussion has been going on for almost four years now, and I hope it
continues for many more...
Let me begin:
So, there's this porcupine and this guru.
And the guru is sitting on top of the mountain, offering countless amounts of
wisdom and knowledge to the masses.
And the porcupine is meandering around the forest, making chit-chat with the
other animals the way that porcupines are able to make chit-chat...
So, here's the big question:
What would happen if the guru and the porcupine were to switch?
Come on, just go with this one. Don't try and analyze HOW the porcupine and
the guru have switched, just trust that they have. No, not like "the guru is
now in the woods, and the porcupine is on the mountain." More like the
guru's "essence"/"soul"/"mind" has been switched with the
respective "essence"/"soul"/"mind" of the porcupine, and vice versa.
Now, this brings up some good questions that have been pondered and debated
for close to four years. Let's take a look at just a few of them:
Does this mean that the porcupine in the guru's body would be sitting up on
the mountain going "squeak, squeak" at all of the people making the trek
looking for guidance? And that the guru in the porcupine's body would be
wandering around the forest shelling out infinite wisdom to all of the
animals?
Which also brings up the question of whether or not the guru would have the
ability to manipulate the porcupine's vocal chords and mouth in such a
fashion that he would be able to communicate with anyone, people or animals?
Now, obviously if the actualy brain matter of either the guru or the
porcupine were to suddenly switch into the head of the other, then the guru's
head would rattle like a . . . well, like a rattle. And the porcupine's
head would explode.
But, if what we could consider their "minds" to be switching, would the
porcupine realize that he was no longer in his own body? Or would he assume
that he was suddenly on top of a mountain, so he'd crawl down and the body of
a random guru would be walking around the forest looking for his friends and
wondering why they all run away?
In the same respect, would the guru realize that he is in the porcupine's
body? Or would he just assume that he was drunk and all of a sudden ended up
in the woods?
Hmm... there are so many possibilities and answers and questions...
So, we're going to stop this stupidity where it should be stopped: in the
middle.
If you need any clarification to this scenerio, or would like to share your
comments/questions/answers/confessions that you are a porcupine (or other
random animal) trapped in a guru's body, feel free to e-mail them to me and
I'll share them in the future.
-Sarah