Thursday 31 August 2006

Catch 22

I was thinking of something today as a "Catch 22" situation and realised that I had lost the full definition. When the novel was new, it was a rite of passage to have read it and be able to engage in the circular reasoning that is typifies.

This is a public service. "Catch 22" is repeated here for those who may never have explored it or whose memory is getting a bit fuzzy at the edges. Let us hope that that tosser B Liar never discovers it or we will be off down more of his avenues of fractured reasoning.
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to.
Centers on Air Force procedure during WW2 that one was rotated after a certain number of combat missions. After having flown the stated number of flights, one could claim the rotation. If one did not claim, active service flights continued.

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