giles:

i want to talk about love! and that it’s not provable via evidence!

you see, it’s obvious: solipsism is essentially unsatisfying and makes solipsists neurotic; also you can’t actually prove that someone loves you – rather than (for instance) is deceiving you 24×7 – and as shakespeare describes, because othello killed desdemona in a play we should assume that by and large certainty will only make us miserable.

are there any questions?

tim ireland:

(quotes douglas adams)

groundling:

(quotes terry pratchett)

giles:

if only we would all forego ockham’s razor and reject the simplistic model that we are all mere flesh and bone, that life is effectively meaningless, and that when we die nothing of us shall remain – if we could just reject all that, then there would be so much more scope for people who want to talk about religion sorry did i say religion i meant philosophy.

tutti:

did he say RELIGION?

giles:

no! no, no i didn’t say religion; anyway modern atheism is boring!

tutti:

OH NO IT ISN’T!

giles:

OH YES IT IS! Oops, sorry, yes it is. You can’t meaningfully argue with talk about it

beard:

yes it is boring, but who ever said it had to be interesting to be right?

giles:

what does ‘be’ actually mean? and there is no evidence-based approach for love!

david:

but can there be an evidence-based approach for hate?

tutti:

(laughter)

comic gravedigger:

othello should have waited for more evidence!

tutti:

(laughter)

alarums, exeunt

…