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Discussion » Questions » Outside the Mug » Outside the Mug, Question 4:
Benedict Arnold

Outside the Mug, Question 4:

British philosopher Bertrand Russell postulated a tea pot in continuous orbit around the Earth and challenged anybody to prove it wasn't there.

What if, instead of a tea pot, it had been a mug?

Why is it there? Who put it there? What is inside it? What is outside the mug?

Posted - March 18, 2017
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Responses


  • He never specified if the tea pot was short and stout or no.  This is important information.
      March 18, 2017 9:42 PM MDT
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  • True... on such small details doth the world turn
      March 18, 2017 9:54 PM MDT
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  • I suspect one can infer it does have a handle and spout.
      March 18, 2017 9:55 PM MDT
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  • Not if broken... a lot of vibrations during launch
      March 18, 2017 9:56 PM MDT
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  • I suspect Mr. Russell was considering a high quality Wedgewood tea pot.
      March 18, 2017 10:26 PM MDT
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  • Well yes in that case ... josia perhaps?
      March 18, 2017 10:38 PM MDT
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  • I suspect Josia would have been dead at Russell's time. But a Wedgewood descent sure.
      March 18, 2017 10:41 PM MDT
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  • If it was short he'd have used as whisky glass; if it was stout he'd have used as beer glass.
      March 18, 2017 9:56 PM MDT
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  • Or a jar for whisky.  I generally prefer IPA. 
      March 18, 2017 10:27 PM MDT
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  • i think the Vogons use then as  warnings about impending by pass construction activity.
      March 18, 2017 9:55 PM MDT
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  • Clever people, the Vogons. 
      March 18, 2017 9:56 PM MDT
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  • not once you've heard their poetry!
      March 18, 2017 9:57 PM MDT
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  • It's not that bad: Limericks with a hip-hop beat.
      March 18, 2017 10:14 PM MDT
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  • Wartch it there Didge...I am highly thin-skinned and sensitive, might take umbrage if anyone suggested (remotely) (again) that I might be "In Orbit"...
      March 18, 2017 9:57 PM MDT
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  • We'll have to toughen you up before we let you go into orbit, Virginia. Thin skin just wouldn't do for the re-entry temperatures.
      March 18, 2017 10:15 PM MDT
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  • 170
    Somewhere in an infinite universe (OK, before I get flamed, I already know that the Universe is not infinite.) there is an earth-like planet with a teapot orbiting.

    In one famous episode of Red Dwarf, their ship is attacked by a giant curry, they are forced to seek out a giant lager as defence.

    In an infinite universe, everything is possible.
      March 19, 2017 4:09 AM MDT
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  • I just commented below another of your answers that British comedy is subtle.
    It's also very, very, stra-a-ange. 
      March 19, 2017 11:55 AM MDT
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  • At first I thought you were referring to Bertrand Russell but now I'm inclined towards The Clangers.
      March 19, 2017 4:21 AM MDT
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  • 44608
    What the hell is everyone talking about? Can I have what you're smoking?
      March 19, 2017 10:08 AM MDT
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  • I don't need to smoke anything to be like this, 99. I was born crazy and deteriorated as I grew older.
      March 19, 2017 11:58 AM MDT
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  • 7280
    Let me think about that for a while---

    I will first ponder: What is the nature of a tea pot?
      March 19, 2017 11:39 AM MDT
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  • Lotus position, Grasshopper, take a deep breath, and ommmm....
      March 19, 2017 12:00 PM MDT
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  • 7683
      March 19, 2017 2:19 PM MDT
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  • 7280
    As a medieval scholastic, I prefer to ambulate while pondering.
      March 19, 2017 3:56 PM MDT
    0