Hollystone stood up again, sipped her eau de toilette, and
cleared her throat.

     "Counselor," said Picard, "let go of my arm!" 
     "I feel dizzy.  Weirdness ahead."

     "Between Truth and Power,     which one would you choose?
      Between Truth and Wealth,    which one would you choose?
      Between Truth and Namer,     which one would you choose?
      Between Truth and Friend,    which one would you choose?
      Between Truth and Proofs,    which one, would you choose?
      Between Truth and Yourself,  which one would you choose?

      Between *1* and *1000*, which one would you choose?  and
why?"

     "I'd *really* like a new seat," said Ludwig.
     "Ludwig," said Data, "look her in the eye, free your mind,
listen, and I think you'll find you've more in common with her than
you realize."
     "Hey, you used a contraction!"
     "Are you the Data," said Holly, "or are you the Lore?"
     "Holly," said Barclay, "tell Ludwig about the atoms."
     "In the vision of Greeks," she said, "the world is made of
water ( or atom). They think everything good has to be simple. They
think that the truth is really in the atom. So, take the atom, one
will find the truth. I tried.  And I did!"
     Ludwig took her small hand in his.  "You, you mean that,
Holly?"
     
     "Is something wrong with the inertial dampers?" said Troi.  "I
need some Dramamine."
     "I can't watch this, Captain."
     "Join the club.
     "Captain," said Deanna,  "have you noticed how all the really
outstanding kooks are fascinated by atoms?"
     ""Yes, Counselor, your innate grasp of the painfully obvious
is as sharp as ever.  But you know, Counselor, it makes one wonder: 

     Why should a group of simple, stable compounds of carbon,
oxygen and nitrogen struggle for billions of years to organize
themselves into a Ludwig Plutonium?"  He raised his voice and
added,  "What is the *motive*?!"
     "Sounds like Pirsig again."
     Picard nodded.
     "And totalities," said Dr. Crusher.  "Everything has to be a
Theory of Everything.  They'll give you richly-layered TOEs but
they can't take a derivative or stop their vcr's from flashing
12:00."  
     Picard said, "Speaking of TOEs, where's Q, that great poof?" 

     Holly said,

     "The totality of the Universe does not change
      When there is life,
      There is death
      Death isn't a bad thing
      It is the source for
      The Beginning
      When life shall be celebrated
      So 
      Shall death

      Death isn't a bad thing
      It is the source 
      For
      The Beginning -

      Beginning to prove
      Beginning to understand
      Death isn't a bad thing
      It 
      Is 
      Just 
      The 
      Beginning"

     Ludwig said, "Totality?"

     Dr Crusher said, "Dollars to doughnuts they write their own
vows."
     "Mom," said young Wesley, "I was wondering, how come we never
ever mention Einstein on the show?"
     Dr. Crusher slapped her young idiot.
     "Wil, do the words 'breach of contract' mean anything to you?"
said Riker.  "And don't mention Lorentz, either."
     "But--"
     "Pain enhancer," snarled Worf.     

     "I was *saying*..." said Marilyn, "anxious to regain the
floor, 'Ignorant in Idaho' writes 'Imagine a bowl of water
containing a tadpole.  We'll call this tadpole 'Hannu'.  Now,
imagine a camera filming the bowl of water over the course of the
next three weeks.  If the camera films 24 frames per second, we can
expect some 43.5 million frames--"
     "43,545,600," chorused a number of voices.
     "Yes, well.  No one would argue that frame 1 shows Hannu the
tadpole and frame 43--
     "43,545,600."
     "--shows Hannu the frog."
     Smullyan rearranged his matchsticks.
     "Well, then, it follows logically that there must be a frame
in there that shows a tadpole that is directly followed by one that
shows a frog.  No?"
     "Data?"
     "Got *me* by the balls."
     "Data!"
     "It's slang, Commander.  Did I use it incorrectly?  I've 
been--"
     "Yes, it's slang.  It's also vulgar and sexist."
     Data thought for a moment.  "Perhaps I should have said, 'Got
me by the short and curlies'."
     "We'll talk later."
     Gauss was growing impatient.  "What does any of this have to
do with *math*?  Is this some kind of twisted joke?  I didn't come
here to fuck around;  I came here to *smoke*."
     Picard stood up and left the gallery.  "Oh, I know this one. 
I'm joining in."  He seated himself between Smullyan and Ludwig.
     Data said, "Actually, Marilyn, what your reader is describing
can be traced back, on Earth, to Greek philosophers in the 4th
century B.C.
     "B.P." said Ludwig.
     "British Petroleum?" said Wiles.
     "Before Plutonium," said Ludwig. " And it's the *24th* century
B.P."
     "The sororities?" said Marilyn.
     "Close," said Picard.  "It's analagous to the paradox of the
*sorites*, the ancient Greek word for heap.  The philosophers of
the school of Megara first formulated this paradox by showing the
impossibility of making a heap by adding one seed at a time.  It
has led to all sorts of similar paradoxes, most of them of the
form:  
     A man who has a penny is not wealthy.
     If a man is not wealthy, giving him a penny will not make him
wealthy.
     Therefore, no matter how many pennies you give a man, they
will not make him a wealthy man."



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