Hofstadter, Dennett - The Mind's I

25Raymond M. SmullyanAn Epistemological NightmareScene 1. Frank is in the office of an eye doctor. The doctor holds up a book and asks"What color is it?" Frank answers, "Red." The doctor says, "Aha, just as Ithought! Your whole color mechanism has gone out of kilter. But fortunately yourcondition is curable, and I will have you in perfect shape in a couple of weeks."Scene 2. (A few weeks later.) Frank is in a laboratory in the home of an experimentalepistemologist. (You will soon find out what that means!) The epistemologistholds up a book and also asks, "What color is this book?" Now, Frank has beenearlier dismissed by the eye doctor as "cured." However, he is now of a veryanalytical and cautious temperament, and will not make any statement that canpossibly be refuted. So Frank answers, "It seems red to me."EPISTEMOLOGIST: Wrong!FRANK: I don't think you heard what I said. I merely said that it seems red to me.EPISTEMOLOGIST: I heard you, and you were wrong.From Philosophical Fantasies by Raymond M. Smullyan, to be published by St. Martins Press,N.Y., in 1982.