Wikipedia talk:Wikipedia Signpost/2007-04-23/WikiWorld

Re: Buttered Cat experiment[edit]

I think it was in the Feedback section of New Scientist that I first saw this phenomenon discussed. I recall them posting someone's correspondance the following week, where he described this action of a spinning cat as purrpetual motion StephenBuxton 09:28, 30 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There's no purradox if the cat lands on its feet. In that case, the toast doesn't "land" at all, but simply remains unaltered strapped to the cat's back. Rwxrwxrwx 22:54, 30 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think the crux of the dilemma is that the cat is exercising free will and choosing to land on its feet while the toast is simply following a law of attraction akin to gravity or the weak nuclear force.... however, just as gravity acts to fell a ball to the ground, but you can choose to override gravity and hold the ball in the air, so can the cat choose to override the butter-ground attraction (unless it is a very small cat and a very large piece of toast).... //// Pacific PanDeist * 02:06, 1 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]