[MD] The Hero's journey

[Matt Kundert]

Hey Dan,

Dan said:
The idea that the city of New York exists is a high quality idea. I have 
no reason to suspect that New York City doesn't exist even though 
I've never personally been there to experience it directly. But I do 
have reason to suspect Don's dog dish doesn't exist, just as I suspect 
the tree falling in the forest doesn't exist. They're imaginary. Now, I 
might imagine what New York City is like, but until I visit I'll never 
know. But imagining something that I know exists and imagining that 
which doesn't exist are on different ends of the spectrum of 
intellectual quality patterns. Is that really so weird?

Matt:
Oh my god: I think I just figured out what's been blocking the 
conversation.  You've been taking "Don's dog dish" as an made-up, 
fictional account--is that right?  And _that's_ why "what dish" makes 
sense?

What if I told you that was an actual conversation that happened 
once to my friends Don and Chris?  Would that make it more like 
New York?  You wouldn't believe me, and on good grounds, but the 
purpose of thought-experiments isn't to call their bluff immediately by 
going "imaginary fiction! you're making that up!"  It's supposed to be 
to assume for the sake of argument that this is a real situation that 
can happen to generate real-world responses to then discuss the 
conceptual viability of.

If this hasn't been the block, then I have no idea why you have more 
reason to think that New York is a higher quality idea than Don's dog 
dish.

Matt