The way W. Somerset Maugham (1933) tells the tale, it is set in Baghdad/Samarra.

The way Viktor Frankl (1946) tells the tale (next to last paragraph), it is set in Teheran. (The spelling of Tehran as Teheran is probably an artifact of translation from the German.)

Now I want to know which version (if any) is the correct historically traditional

This is a very strange question, and I'm not sure how to phrase it, but I'll try my best ( Read more... )

I broke my phone and lost all the numbers I saved in it. If you want me to have yours, e-mail it to me or comment here. (Comments will be screened for my eyes only.)

The Heisenberg uncertainty principle shows that there is an assymetry relation between measurements of objects. Some of these assymetry relations are between the measurement ( Read more... )

A Robust Theory of Epistemological Relativism and How It Does Not Imply One Can't Be WrongThere are some basic normative prerequisites to scientific method which all of its followers accept. Among these are Hume's Uniformity Principle (that the future will be and that the present is like the past), Occam's Razor/Parsimony (that the simplest ( Read more... )

I find it very strange that some people think that the psychosomatic response to the power of suggestion is caused by merely a belief. I heard on NPR recently of a study that was done in which some patients were given placebos and others were given pills containing chemicals that would neutralize the tested medication. What this test found was ( Read more... )

My interaction with unkunvinst a short while ago reminded me of a conversation I'd had quite a while ago with chrysis about that phenomenon of chest pain that goes along with emotional turmoil. My quest to understand the physiological basis of this phenomenon led me here and here, if anyone's interested. (The responses of jmsurratt and midu2 were especially interesting.)

I need some metalogical insights here. I'm writing a paper on logically impossible objects and whether or not they are nameable. One of my examples is focused on this supposed set: < Proof of Goldbach's conjecture, the smallest even number greater than 2 that is not the sum of two prime numbers >. I think we can see that this object (the set) is ( Read more... )

( This is what my dissertation will try to show )

Obi-wan Kenobi, a long time ago (Episode IV): "You can't win, Darth. You can strike me down, and I'll become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

Socrates, 399 B.C. (Apology 39c-d): "Now I want to prophesy to those who convicted me, for I am at the point when men prophesy most, when they are about to die. I say gentlemen, to those who ( Read more... )