"Рэймонд Смаллиан. Две философские сценки (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

No, Frank, the machine is--or, rather, was--a good one. The
epistemologist learned much from it, but misused it when he applied it to
his own brain. He really should have known better than to create such an
unstable situation. The combination of his brain and the machine each
scrutinizing and influencing the behavior of the other led to serious
problems in feedback. Finally the whole system went into a cybernetic
wobble. Something was bound to give sooner or later. Fortunately, it was the
machine.
FRANK: I see. One last question, though. How could the machine be
trustworthy when it claimed to be untrustworthy?
DOCTOR: The machine never claimed to be untrustworthy, it only claimed
that the epistemologist would be better off not trusting it. And the machine
was right.



D. C. Dennett. Reflections

If Smullyan's nightmare strikes you as too outlandish to be convincing,
consider a more realistic fable--not a true story, but surely possible:
Once upon a time there were two coffee tasters, Mr. Chase and Mr.
Sanborn, who worked for Maxwell House. Along with half a dozen other coffee
tasters, their job was to ensure that the taste of Maxwell House stayed
constant, year after year. One day, about six years after Mr. Chase had come
to work for Maxwell House, he cleared his throat and confessed to Mr.
Sanborn:
"You know, I hate to admit it, but I'm not enjoying this work any more.
When I came to Maxwell House six years ago, I thought Maxwell House coffee
was the best-tasting coffee in the world. I was proud to have a share in the
responsibility for preserving that flavor over the years. And we've done our
job well; the coffee tastes today just the way it tasted when I arrived.
But, you know, I no longer like it! My tastes have changed. I've become a
more sophisticated coffee drinker. I no longer like that taste at all."
Sanborn greeted this revelation with considerable interest. "It's funny
you should mention it," he replied, "for something rather similar has
happened to me. When I arrived here, shortly before you did, I, like you,
thought Maxwell House coffee was tops in flavor. And now I, like you, really
don't care for the coffee we're making. But my tastes haven't changed; my...
tasters have changed. That is, I think something has gone wrong with my
taste buds or something--you know, the way your taste buds go off when you
take a bite of pancakes and maple syrup and then go back to your orange
juice? Maxwell House coffee doesn't taste to me the way it used to taste; if
only it did, I'd still love it, for I still think that taste is the best
taste in coffee. Now, I'm not saying we haven't done our job well. You other
guys all agree that the taste is the same, so it must be my problem alone. I
guess I'm no longer cut out for this work."
Chase and Sanborn are alike in one way. Both used to like Maxwell House
coffee; now neither one likes it. But they claim to be different in another
way: Maxwell House tastes to Chase the way it always did, but not so for
Sanborn. The difference seems familiar and striking, yet when they confront