Similar Concepts
In 1996, a unicorn that no one can see was adapted as a teaching device at Camp Quest, the first free-thought summer camp for children established in the United States, by Dr. L. Wilson. As reported years later in the July 21, 2006 Cincinnati Enquirer, "Campers must try to prove that imaginary unicorns—as a metaphor for God—don't exist." Richard Dawkins alluded to unicorns in this connection in his 2006 book The God Delusion, writing that "Russell's teapot, of course, stands for an infinite number of things whose existence is conceivable and cannot be disproved. A philosophical favorite is the invisible, intangible, inaudible unicorn."
In the essay The Dragon in my Garage from the book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle In the Dark, Carl Sagan uses the example of an invisible dragon breathing heatless fire that someone claims lives in his garage. The supposed dragon cannot be seen, heard, or sensed in any way, nor does it leave footprints. There is no reason to believe this purported dragon exists.
Read more about this topic: Invisible Pink Unicorn
Famous quotes containing the words similar and/or concepts:
“The question that’s probably uppermost in the child’s mind is: Why do my parents want to have a baby? Don’t they love me? And if they love me, why do they need another one? Aren’t I enough? Imagine for a minute yourself in a similar situation. Your husband comes home and says: “Honey I love you so much, I’ve decided to go get another wife so I can have two.” How would you feel?”
—Lawrence Balter (20th century)
“When you have broken the reality into concepts you never can reconstruct it in its wholeness.”
—William James (1842–1910)