Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Talmudic Cows

I don't know if Norm ever studied Talmud; I haven't thought of asking him. Whether he has or not, he certainly has the knack of it: he's a natural, one might say, assuming one might agree what constitutes being a natural.

5 comments:

Soccer Dad said...

Reminds me of the thieves and the dirty face story.

Anonymous said...

would it be insulting Talmud scholars to ask whether the cows might be getting up whenever they feel the need to replenish?
is an explanation that they can chew and re-chew while standing or while lying but taking in new stuff requires standing - i.e. no breakfast in bed for cows ...
I imagine a cow still standing after a healthy intake checks her stomach whether it will stay quiet long enough that it is worth the trouble to lie down. Then when she finds that she might feel like some more pretty soon again she decides to remain standing

Silke

Anonymous said...

Is the gentleman already married?

Judith

rashkov said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rashkov said...

"Even more mysterious is this: why haven't all cows ended up in a standing position if prone cows are getting up sooner than upright cows are lying down?"

I think that would be a dynamic equilibrium in calculus.

The end result is that on average, there is a specific, low percentage of cows laying down, and a high percentage of cows standing up, and these percentages remain more or less constant.