by Elio
From a presentation at a 'Comparative Microbial Genomics Workshop', attributed to W.P. Hanage. Source
A guy walks at night on a beach in California and stubs his toe against an old bottle, which breaks and releases a genie. "I’ll grant you one wish, oh Master," says the genie.
The man replies, "Well, I'd dearly love to go to Hawaii but I hate both airplanes and ships, so would you build me a highway from here to there?" The genie thinks for a moment, then replies, "Indeed, I said you could have one wish, but this one seems nearly impossible. Could you ask for something easier?"
The man, being a microbiological sort, says, "OK, can you then tell me what is a species?"
The genie pauses, then answers, “Do you want it two lanes or four?”
For greater enlightenment, click here or here.
Stan,
Had the genie asked me, I wouldn't have known what to tell him. But I am not as wise as you because I am so much younger: I went to graduate school much later than you ( 1950-1954).
Posted by: elio | July 17, 2008 at 03:53 PM