I saw it as more of a warning about the limits of maps—when something happens that you think is impossible, then it is time to update your map, and not rail against the territory for failing to match it.
(Of course, it is possible that you have been fooled, somehow, into thinking that something has happened which has, in actual fact, not happened. This possibility should be considered and appropriately weighted (given whatever evidence you have of the thing actually happening) against the possibility that the map is simply wrong.)
If you were to tell me, for example, that you had seen a man flying through the air like Superman, then I think I could reasonably call that “impossible” and conclude that you were lying. (If I happened to be in Metropolis at the time, then I might soon be proven wrong—nonetheless, the conclusion that you are lying is significantly more probable than the conclusion that someone has suddenly developed the power of flight).
On the other hand… if you were to hold an object, and then let go, and that object were to fall up instead of down, then calling that “impossible” would be useless; I have seen the object fall up, I can see it there on the roof, I can walk under it. (And it is, indeed, not impossible; the object could be a helium balloon, or you might have concealed a powerful magnet in the roof and used a metal object).
...hmmm. I think the difference here is that in the first case, the thing has not clearly happened; I merely have an eyewitness report, which is easily forged, to say that it took place. In the second case, I have far more data to show that the object really did fall upwards, and I can even (perhaps with the aid of a ladder) retrieve the object and drop it myself, confirming that it continues to fall upwards; it has clearly happened, calling it “impossible” is indeed futile, and the only question is how.
I saw it as more of a warning about the limits of maps—when something happens that you think is impossible, then it is time to update your map, and not rail against the territory for failing to match it.
(Of course, it is possible that you have been fooled, somehow, into thinking that something has happened which has, in actual fact, not happened. This possibility should be considered and appropriately weighted (given whatever evidence you have of the thing actually happening) against the possibility that the map is simply wrong.)
If you’ve been fooled, there’s still no point to calling it impossible, given that you’re trying to find out what actually happened.
Hmmm.
If you were to tell me, for example, that you had seen a man flying through the air like Superman, then I think I could reasonably call that “impossible” and conclude that you were lying. (If I happened to be in Metropolis at the time, then I might soon be proven wrong—nonetheless, the conclusion that you are lying is significantly more probable than the conclusion that someone has suddenly developed the power of flight).
On the other hand… if you were to hold an object, and then let go, and that object were to fall up instead of down, then calling that “impossible” would be useless; I have seen the object fall up, I can see it there on the roof, I can walk under it. (And it is, indeed, not impossible; the object could be a helium balloon, or you might have concealed a powerful magnet in the roof and used a metal object).
...hmmm. I think the difference here is that in the first case, the thing has not clearly happened; I merely have an eyewitness report, which is easily forged, to say that it took place. In the second case, I have far more data to show that the object really did fall upwards, and I can even (perhaps with the aid of a ladder) retrieve the object and drop it myself, confirming that it continues to fall upwards; it has clearly happened, calling it “impossible” is indeed futile, and the only question is how.