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# Does he have one? Is an object defined by its purpose still the same object when it can no longer serve that purpose?
Surely a hammer that no longer hammers can no longer be a hammer.
(I helped save b3ta! Mu Dinofiddler, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:24, archived)
# A tool is a tool.
(I helped save b3ta! atomic A-bomb-a-nation, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:25, archived)
# Not if you can't use it for anything.
(I helped save b3ta! Mu Dinofiddler, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:26, archived)
# Then it's a useless tool.
(I helped save b3ta! atomic A-bomb-a-nation, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:30, archived)
# Exactly - sort of. The definition of a tool is an object used by a person (or animal/entity) for a specific aim, end or purpose.
If it no longer meets this criteria then it is no longer a tool. The same with the hammer and tumble dryer, if they no longer hammer, or tumble dry then they're no longer hammers or tumble dryers.
(I helped save b3ta! Mu Dinofiddler, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:32, archived)
# so what are they?
(I helped save b3ta! 4Q just lurking, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:33, archived)
# Objects. Lumps of metal on broken sticks. Metal boxes full of burnt out components.
(I helped save b3ta! Mu Dinofiddler, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:35, archived)
# Well that would certainly clear things up at the repair shop:
"Yeah - I need a new part for a metal box full of burnt out components"
(I helped save b3ta! 4Q just lurking, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:37, archived)
# "I can't really tell you what the part is because until it is in use it's just a meaningless collection of bits of metal and stuff"
(I helped save b3ta! 4Q just lurking, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:39, archived)
# Or, if you're not being stubborn, you say I need a new part for what used to be my tumble dryer.
(I helped save b3ta! Mu Dinofiddler, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:40, archived)
# And what do you call the part?
If it's never been used, then you can't describe what it used to be.
(I helped save b3ta! 4Q just lurking, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:46, archived)
# We covered this.
www.b3ta.com/board/10681486
Then Mothra pwned me.
(I helped save b3ta! Mu Dinofiddler, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:47, archived)
# Yeah, he did, didn't he.
+1 for taking it like a skin-bag full of organs and bones that used to be a man.
(I helped save b3ta! 4Q just lurking, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:52, archived)
# I'd take that further and say
it's possible to take the position that objects are defined solely by their present use. So a hammer in a toolbox is not a hammer, it only becomes a hammer when you hammer something with it.
(I helped save b3ta! mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:30, archived)
# I'd take it further still and say that the role of the object is actually defined by the opinion of the user/observer.
The un-used hammer in a toolbox is still a hammer because its owner KNOWS it can hammer when called upon.
The rock becomes a hammer when the monkey realises it can hit other monkeys with it. It wasn't a hammer before then, and once the other enraged monkeys tear the hitty monkey apart it will cease to be a hammer.
(I helped save b3ta! Mu Dinofiddler, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:34, archived)
# In conclusion then
you're a tool, because everyone knows you are.
(I helped save b3ta! mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:37, archived)
#
(I helped save b3ta! Mu Dinofiddler, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:39, archived)
#
!!!!
(I helped save b3ta! mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:40, archived)
# He looks good, but I don't think he'll ever fill the original's didgerdo :(
(I helped save b3ta! Mu Dinofiddler, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:41, archived)
# What if you were never told you're a human?
(I helped save b3ta! atomic A-bomb-a-nation, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 4:47, archived)
# shroedingers hammer!
(I helped save b3ta! discomeats This canoe, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:55, archived)
# Is that the one he killed the cat with?
(I helped save b3ta! 4Q just lurking, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:57, archived)
# Or not.
(I helped save b3ta! mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:58, archived)
# Well, it USED to be a cat.
Now it's pâté.
(I helped save b3ta! Mu Dinofiddler, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:59, archived)
# Whoa man, Whoa! You just blew my mind man!
(I helped save b3ta! Mu Dinofiddler, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:57, archived)
# just wait till you see his kfc bargain bucket
(I helped save b3ta! discomeats This canoe, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 2:05, archived)
# Haha
(I helped save b3ta! mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ, Sun 5 Feb 2012, 1:59, archived)