The Derrida Game - En simpel s.k. skitsnacksdetektor

Saxat från ett inlägg av signaturen "Fishboy" på Richard Dawkins hemsida:

MATERIALS

1 expert, scholar or proponent of the theories you would like to test.

1 key book, monograph or paper by a leading figure of the school of thought in question.

3 sheets of paper.

1 pen or pencil


INSTRUCTIONS

1. Ask expert / scholar / proponent to turn around.

2. Find an interesting sentence in the book and copy it verbatim on the first sheet of paper.

3. Take the second sheet of paper and write the same sentence, but changing one item so as to give it a different meaning. This can be done with antonyms, negation, etc.

4. Repeat the previous step on the third sheet of paper, changing a different item.

5. Ask the victim to read the three sentences and decide which one expresses guru's teachings.

6. Repeat as necessary. Tally score.


EXAMPLE

"Singularities possess a process of auto-unification, always mobile and displaced to the extent that a deterministic element traverses the series and makes them resonate..."

"Singularities possess a process of auto-unification, always mobile and displaced to the extent that a paradoxical element traverses the series and makes them resonate..."

"Singularities possess a process of auto-negation, always mobile and displaced to the extent that a paradoxical element traverses the series and makes them resonate..."


CONCLUSION

Anyone with a firm grasp of their field should "win" the Derrida Game 100% of the time. When multiple experts in a given field fail to do so consistently, the validity and integrity of the field must be seriously questioned.

To close, an example Derrida Game question set from physics. It's doubful that even a high school teacher would ever score less than 100%.

"In particle physics, quarks are one of the two basic constituents of energy (the other are the leptons). Quarks are the only fundamental particles that interact through all four of the fundamental forces."

"In particle physics, quarks are one of the two basic constituents of matter (the other are the leptons). Quarks are one of several fundamental particles that interact through all four of the fundamental forces."

"In particle physics, quarks are one of the two basic constituents of matter (the other are the leptons). Quarks are the only fundamental particles that interact through all four of the fundamental forces."