What's Not in the Lungs?

Don't bother trying to prove that something doesn't exist; it's impossible.

Oct 08, 2022

Is there a door behind the gate?

There is an anecdote about a medical student from about 70 years ago, whose professor decided to fail him and make him drop out. I forget the reason for the contention, but this is how the story goes:

This prof asked the student at an exam: “What is not in the lungs?”

Of course, already Wittgenstein got on Bertrand Russell’s nerves around 1928 by telling him he couldn’t prove there was no rhino in the room. Of course, the problem is an empirical one, while Russell was hell-bent on “solving” everything by logic (which is impossible, because humans can think only in closed systems, while their surroundings, and even themselves, are open systems, as Yuri Lotman had pointed it out seven years earlier, in 1921). To make matters worse, it is a logical fallacy to try to prove that something doesn’t exist (I know that the following article can be interpreted as an apologetic for or an attack on Steve Kirsch, but that’s not the point); it’s the method that matters:

Ray’s Newsletter

Steve Kirsch Is Challenging Again!

Steve Kirsch is claiming that there are photographs with “viruses.” I’m sure, he is right up to the point that yes, there are photographs. The question is, what’s in the photos? What are the components of the tiny particles he claims are “viruses,” where are they coming from, where are they going, if anywhere, and what are they doing, if anything, in th…

3 years ago · 24 likes · 108 comments · Ray Horvath, "The Source" :)

So, what is NOT in the lungs? Your call is as good as mine, but after retaking the exam with no more options, knowing that he would fail again and drop out of school, the student told the professor, “Well, Sir, in the lungs, there are no chairs, no tables, just like a horse’s dick is missing from your ass.” The anecdote ends with the student going to another school and becoming a successful MD.