“A story I heard last night: Once upon a time, there was a man who thought he was dead. He would walk only at night, and he frequented graveyards and empty houses, because that’s what dead people do. His friends tried everything they could think of to convince him that he was still alive. They talked to him, they fed him, they threw cold water on him. But he was firmly convinced that he was dead, and nothing they did could shake the conviction.
Finally they brought him in to a psychologist. The psychologist talked and analyzed, trying to delve to the root of the problem, but just couldn’t get anywhere. Finally he asked the man whether dead men bleed. The delusional person answered that of course they don’t, don’t be silly! The psychologist got up and walked over to his desk, and came back with a pin. He asked his patient to sit still, so that he could show him that he really wasn’t dead. Then the doctor took the pin and pricked the man’s hand, and sure enough a drop of blood came out. The man jumped, stared, and then, with a shake of the head said, ‘Well, wady’a know! Dead men DO bleed!’
Moral: sometimes facts aren’t enough to change presuppositions.”
— elel
