world's funniest joke: Holmes and Watson go camping.

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Here is a joke claimed to have been the funniest joke in the world. I love it. I've been told that it employs both deductive (a priori) and inductive (a posteriori) reasoning. These terms have always been confusing to me, and I wonder if somebody would explain the difference .

The joke runs: Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson go camping and pitch their tent under the stars. During the night, Holmes wakes his companion and says: Watson, look up at the stars and tell me what you deduce.

Watson says: I see millions of stars, and even if a few of those have planets it's quite likely there are some planets like Earth, and if there are a few planets like Earth out there, there might also be life.

Holmes replies: Watson, you idiot. Somebody stole our tent.

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@coluber2001,

coluber2001 wrote:

Here is a joke claimed to have been the funniest joke in the world. I love it. I've been told that it employs both deductive (a priori) and inductive (a posteriori) reasoning. These terms have always been confusing to me, and I wonder if somebody would explain the difference .

The joke runs: Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson go camping and pitch their tent under the stars. During the night, Holmes wakes his companion and says: Watson, look up at the stars and tell me what you deduce.

Watson says: I see millions of stars, and even if a few of those have planets it's quite likely there are some planets like Earth, and if there are a few planets like Earth out there, there might also be life.

Holmes replies: Watson, you idiot. Somebody stole our tent.

Well first the joke is unrealistic even a little slap stick. But it's unrealistic because Holmes woulda known who stole the tent. Or predicted it was about to happen.

Deductive reasoning, there are planets around those Its deductive because we know stars have a chance at planets, our star does so it's reasonable.

Inductive reasoning to suggest those other planets have possible life. We have no way to determine that reasoning.

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That "joke" isn't even slightly funny.

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@centrox,

I thought it was, though I've heard it before.

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@coluber2001,

coluber2001 wrote:

it employs both deductive (a priori) and inductive (a posteriori) reasoning. These terms have always been confusing to me, and I wonder if somebody would explain the difference .

A priori knowledge or justification is independent of experience, as with mathematics and deduction from pure reason. Thus Watson makes his observation about stars, planets, etc, based on reasoning.

A posteriori knowledge or justification is dependent on observation or experience or empirical evidence, as with most aspects of science and personal knowledge. Thus Holmes points out that the tent is missing, having seen this.

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@centrox,

Neither is dissecting or explaining a joke. Either you know what's funny or you don't. You know, they don't.

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Here's a funny joke:

A Catholic, a Buddhist and a Muslim are detained by US immigration at JFK. The official says "I am going to ask each of you a question. If you answer it correctly, we'll let you into the USA. If not, you'll get 15 years in a super max prison. Are you ready?". They all say "Yes". He begins:

Officer: "Catholic! In 1912 an ocean liner sank, give its name"
Catholic: "The Titanic!"
Officer: "Correct! You can enter!"
Officer: "Buddhist! To the nearest 100, how many people were drowned?"
Buddhist: "Around 1200!"
Officer: "Correct! You can enter!"
Officer: "Muslim! Give their names and addresses!"

Now that's what I call a joke. If you heard it before, with different cast members, you'll know where I'm coming from.

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@centrox,

Centrox: thank you for your definitions of inductive and deductive reasoning; I think I have a better grasp of their meaning now. Regarding your lack of appreciation for the joke, well, different jokes for different folks.

This was a study conducted in Great Britain, which ended in 2002. 100,000 people were invited to submit and rate jokes, and 47% of the people rated the Sherlock Holmes-Watson joke as the best.
https://www.google.com/amp/m.rte.ie/amp/21665/

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@coluber2001,

This is the actual funniest joke:

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses.

He's not breathing and his eyes are glazed, so his friend calls 911. "My friend is dead! What should I do?"

The operator replies, "Calm down, sir. I can help. First make sure that he's dead."

There's a silence, then a loud bang. Back on the phone, the guy says, "Ok, now what?"

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@McGentrix,

That's also funny. I heard it with a woman's husband calling for help.

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Teenage boy is taking a bath. Father walks in and says "Son, don't do that". Son replies, "It's my dick and I'll wash it as fast as I like".

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@centrox,

I have a better one along the same line.

Three guys are stranded on an island in the middle of the ocean. One day one of them finds a strange bottle which washed up on the beach. They uncork the bottle and a genie pops out granting them each one wish.

The first guy says, "I wish to be back on the main land again!"

*Poof* he disappears.

The second guy says, "I wish I was back in my home."

*Poof* he disappears.

The third guy hesitates and thinks hard about what to wish for, then says, "Man, I wish my friends were with me."

Then *poof* the two men reappear.

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Come to think of it, if Holmes was referring to the missing tent shouldn't he have asked Watson what he induced rather than deduced? Or am I still confusing the definitions of the two.

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