paradisa | Comfort Food

[Finding his way to the dining hall, Rodney sits himself down at a random chair at the largest empty table he can find. For a minute he just sits there tapping his fingers on the table... thinking.

He's not tried this wishing thing yet. He's not really he's fully sure how it works, but if the Castle has already taken payment from him he's damn sure he's not going to waste it. And, he's a scientist after all. What good would he be if he didn't experiment.

With that he clears his throat and begins...]

I wish for ice cream sundae, make it caramel, no hot fudge and whip cream and a cherry. Or better yet, make the ice cream pistachio, hmmm or maybe Neapolitan would be better.

Better yet, a banana split with a scoop of vanilla, chocolate, and ... not strawberry, um... how about chocolate chip?

Oh, now you know what would be good, chocolate chip cookie dough! It's been like forever since...

[Suddenly the table began filling with the different ice cream treats that Rodney mentioned and some he only had thought about but hadn't yet said.]

Uh, oops?! I think I may have gone a bit overboard. If anyone cares for some ice cream...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Time-space tunnel in a sarcophagus? Well that sounds awfully cramped! No, no, it's a healing thing. Can bring you back from the dead even. The Goa'uld use it quite regularly to fix their bodies or to torture the rest of us. Not saying that we've not used it from time to time for our own advantage but it's not like we have on on Atlantis!

No, it's not oil! [Rodney sounds disgusted, he hates having to explain the basics to laymen] It's a mineral used to super charge energy to do all sorts of things.

I'm not grasping at straws, thank you! Frankly this seems all beyond you. No wonder you're so quick to resort to a fantastical cause.

Fantastical? [He crosses his arms and makes a pointed look across the table at the wished for ice-cream.] Careful, Dr. McKay. Occam's Razor might cut something.

[It's obvious that Rodney thinks he knows nothing. Not the first time that has happened and the Doctor is happy to let Rodney keep that assumption, although his voice does have a tone to it, a hint of insincerity.] Atlantis, is that a ship? And a mineral to have energy do all sorts of things, well that does sound interesting.

[Far more serious for the next.] The Goa'uld. Enemy of yours?

Ever hear of a teleporter? Again, still not magic!

[If the Doctor detects annoyance in Rodney's voice he'd be right. As he hears the insincerity in the Doctor's voice he snorts and shakes his head.]

More of a flying city than a ship but yes basically the same thing. And, it's a mineral that super charges energy. The mineral itself is not an energy source.

[Rodney waves his hand] The Goa'uld and the Wraith it just depends on which galaxy you're in. There are others but they're the major players.

What about Doctor? Do you have enemies out there?

[He shakes his head. Leading horse to water, rinse and repeat, McKay will either open his mind a little on his own, or not.]

A teleporter, the whole castle? And a - what was it - rejuvenating sarcophagus? All in one? If a teleporter - I call them transmats, by the way - is sending the ice-cream, who puts it in at the other end?

I have one or two enemies, I suppose, yes. [Or hundreds, who's counting.] Devil's advocate may be one of them.

Just because I don't have all the answers doesn't mean there isn't a completely logical and scientific answer.

Yes, and I can fully understand why!

Yes. Precisely what I have been getting at. But at the same time, any good scientist has to open their mind to other possibilities; that's how the great discoveries are made. Not only that, there is still perception. A piece of technology from the 30th Century is complete magic - or devilry - to someone in the 13th.

[Rodney does get a rather flat look for a moment. Before the Doctor breaks into a wide grin. Thank you. I do try.

And someone from the 30th Century who insists on thinking like someone from the 13th is never going to be open to new possibilities. They are far too busy being consumed by the past!

[Rodney rolls his eyes] So not a compliment!

[The Doctor holds up a triumphant finger.] Except you're forgetting the individuals that did look forward. Choniades, Roger Bacon, Witelo. In their time the common and shall we say, uneducated folk, ridiculed them for their belief in what they thought of as magic.

[He pulls down his hand.] Look what you did. I said I wasn't going to discuss this with you again and you pulled me into it. I do so enjoy our discussions, McKay. [Actually, he quite does.]

I suppose I'm trying to do you a service. The answers you're looking for here aren't so easy to find. Many better men - and women of course - have tried. I'm not saying that you shouldn't look for them. But in the presence of what many can only say is magic in the lack of science and at times the very linchpins of basic physics... be prepared for disappointment. Or as I stated, you may very well find yourself faced with Occam's Guillotine. It isn't a pretty sight.

Those individuals followed the major innovations established by the Greek philosophers. One of which is to understand without using supernatural explanations. Another is to use power of reasoning. Neither of that includes fluffing something off as being magic!

[Rodney glares at the Doctor. The other man frustrates him more than anything else.]

I'm sure Occam wasn't thinking that we should discard logic for fancy when he said look for the simpler answer! Besides scientific answers may not be easy to find but they are well worth the effort. That is how we move forward after all!

What would have happened if Tycho wouldn't have mapped out the universe? Hmmm. Kepler never would have never would have found that planets move in ellipses instead of circles. That's all part of science. To question what we know and when the observable results don't make sense we either figure out why they don't or discard the theory. Shrugging our shoulders and saying oh well it must be magic really doesn't get us anywhere!

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