8,158
edits
Puff of Logic: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
m (revise quote template spacing) |
HLIAA14YOG (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
| (18 intermediate revisions by 10 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that [[Babel Fish|anything so mindbogglingly useful]] could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as a final and clinching proof of the '''non'''existence of [[God]].''
''The argument goes something like this: "I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."''
''"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves that you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."''
▲''The argument goes something like this: "I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."''<br />
''"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly disappears in a [[Trope Namer|puff of logic.]]''
''"Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.''
▲''"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves that you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."''<br />
|''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''}}
▲''"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly disappears in a [[Trope Namer|puff of logic.]]''<br />
▲''"Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.''|''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''}}
One of the nice things about [[Real Life|reality]] is that a person's existence is not decided by [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|consensual agreement]], [[Gods Need Prayer Badly|worship]], or [[Logic Bomb|logic.]]
Except when it is, and then you disappear in a '''Puff
Maybe the characters live in a world where [[Your Mind Makes It Real]], or they have advanced [[Reality Warper]] powers, [[You Fail Logic Forever|failing at logic]] [[Logic Bomb|can be fatal]], or most likely the author [[Rule of Funny|likes a good laugh]]. Whatever the case, a convincing argument can make ''anyone'' cease to exist and simply disappear as if they never existed. However, this doesn't necessarily erase the character's prior existence up to that point; see [[Ret-Gone]] for an instance when a character's entire past gets expunged as well.
Line 21 ⟶ 18:
Expect some unmarked spoilers ahead, as this can obviously be a [[Deus Ex Machina|perfect mechanism]] for winning, say, The [[Final Battle]].
{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUmXhCmVaQg This Skittles commercial.] Three teens sit on a rainbow and enjoy their Skittles while looking down below: Teen #1: "Hey, what if this rainbow doesn't exist and it's just in our imagina-" the rainbow opens under him and falls out of the sky in mid-sentence while the other two teens look on, followed by the slogan "BELIEVE THE RAINBOW! TASTE THE RAINBOW!"
▲== [[Anime]] ==
* This is pretty much the entire premise of ''[[Noein]]''. {{spoiler|The big bad is eventually killed by everyone refusing to acknowledge his existence.}}
* ''[[Hellsing]]'': This is more or less how the mighty
▲== [[Comic Books]] ==
* A [[Enemy Without|duplicator story]] in [[Calvin and Hobbes]] ends this way. Calvin made a "good clone" of himself to dupe into doing his work for him, and proceeded to get into an argument with him. As soon as the good clone had a bad thought, it disappeared.▼
{{quote|'''Hobbes:''' [[Lampshade Hanging|Another casualty of applied meta-physics.]]}}▼
* [[Bloom County|Oliver Wendell Jones]] creates a math formula which explains the existence of everything everywhere...except penguins. Opus disappears, and then reappears when Oliver notices a mistake in the formula and rewrites it.▼
* In [[Grant Morrison]]'s [[Doom Patrol]], the [[Meta Fiction|metafictional]] world of Orqwith disappears from reality when Rebis exposes the contradiction at its heart (based on a [[Knights and Knaves|Raymond Smullyan puzzle]]):
{{quote|'''Rebis:''' I've come to ask the question. One of you must have the answer. Why is there something instead of nothing?
Line 45 ⟶ 37:
* One ''[[Nodwick]]'' story sees the party 'defeat' a lich by smacking it in the head with a magic club that makes you smarter (called, predictably, the [[A Worldwide Punomenon|"Clue-By-Four"]]). The lich, realizing that its status as [[The Undead]] only prolongs its own agony and causes it to lash out on others thus making the universe a slightly crappier place to live, promptly reasons itself out of existence.
▲== [[Fan Fiction]] ==
▲* Happens in the ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'' [[Parody Sue]] fanfic "The Game of the Gods".
* Mentioned in ''[[Unfamiliar]]'' when Alex tries to dispel Louise's notion that she is incapable of magic.
== [[Film]] ==
* At the end of ''[[The Flight of Dragons]]'', the main character defeats the [[Big Bad]] wizard by telling him magic is impossible. Without belief, magic doesn't work and knowledge of science is incompatible with belief in magic.
* In ''The Pirates! Band of Misfits'', [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|The Pirate Captain]] boards a ship only to find it's a ghost ship. Once he realises the ship isn't solid, he falls right through it.
* In the movie [[Cloak and Dagger (film)|Cloak & Dagger]], Davey has Jack Flack, an imaginary spy that helps him out throughout the movie. After Jack convinces [[My God, What Have I Done?|Davey to shoot a bad guy]] that was trying to kill him, Davey stops believing in Jack, and [[Tear Jerker|Jack just fades from existance.]]
* The [[Trope Namer]] is ''[[The
▲== [[Literature]] ==
▲* The [[Trope Namer]] is ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'', where [[God]]'s existence is disproved because the Babel Fish is just too handy to have evolved naturally. Since God exists because Faith needs no proof, any proof such as the Babel Fish would cause God to vanish "in a puff of logic." The book then says that this argument has been nearly universally rejected on the basis that it is [[Logical Fallacy|profoundly stupid]].
** It didn't stop Oolon Coluphid from making a nice bit of lunch money writing a book about it himself.
* Fairies in ''[[Peter Pan]]'' are killed off by someone denying their existence.
** Arguably, this is more a case of [[Gods Need Prayer Badly]]. There is no
* In his ''Meditations on First Philosophy'', Descartes actually invokes this by noting that if he wasn't thinking, then perhaps he would not exist.
** He goes on to state that, regardless of what else he may be wrong about, he must at least exist in the capacity of an entity that is capable of being wrong; if he doesn't exist in at least that capacity, then [[
* ''[[Discworld]]'', all over the place.
** Belafon the druid with his flying rock in ''[[The Light Fantastic]]'':
{{quote|Belafon sat down with his feet dangling over the edge of the rock.
"Look, don't worry," he said. "If you keep thinking the rock shouldn't be flying it might hear you and become persuaded and you will turn out to be right, okay? It's obvious you aren't up to date with modern thinking". }}
* In ''The Pedant and the Shuffly'' by [[John Bellairs]], persuading hapless passersby that, logically speaking, they don't exist, is the wicked magician Snodrog's favorite trick.
* In ''[[Fight Club (novel)|Fight Club]]'', {{spoiler|Tyler Durden disappears when Marla shows up to confront the narrator, the explanation being that Durden was his hallucination, and not hers.}}
** That's in the book. In the movie, {{spoiler|Tyler disappears when the Narrator "kills him". That was a key point in the movie that the Narrator managed to take control of his own mind}}.
* In the [[Nightside]] novels, Tommy Oblivion, the Existential Detective, can cause things like this to happen. On one occasion, he immobilizes a couple of [[Living Statue|ambulatory statues]] by explaining all the reasons why it should be impossible for them to move.
Line 78 ⟶ 68:
{{quote|"It is a slightly arresting notion that if you were to pick yourself apart with tweezers, one atom at a time, you would produce a mound of fine atomic dust, none of which had ever been alive but all of which had once been you."}}
▲== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* In the ''[[Bottom]]'' episode where Richie and Eddie are trapped on the collapsing Ferris wheel, [[Deus Ex Machina|God saves them from falling at the last moment]]. But then they remember that they're atheists, conclude that they must be hallucinating, and...
* A ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' sketch had an apartment building built using the power of hypnosis. It would only remain standing as long as the tenants believed it was the best housing available. When interviewed, one of the tenants mentions that they used to live in a villa overlooking Nice. When the interviewer comments that the villa sounds much better, the tenant realizes it's true...and the building starts to shake. Fourtunately,the man says "NO! NO! OF COURSE NOT!" Then the building changes back to normal, although some of the furniture (and the tenant) were a little shaken.
Line 86 ⟶ 75:
** Another Pythonic version of this trope was a short animation by Terry Gilliam of Rodin's [[Thinker Pose|The Thinker]] coming up with Descartes' "I think therefore I am." in a thought balloon. When a hand comes from off screen and deflates the balloon with a pin, [[Oh Crap|The Thinker looks up briefly in horror]], then disappears.
* The final episode of ''[[Blackadder|Blackadder the Third]]'' has Prince George getting shot, then rising alive and well due to a [[Pocket Protector]]. When he attempts to show it off, however, he can't find it, remarks "Damn, must have left it on the dresser this morning", and promptly dies.
* Done in the second season of ''[[True Blood]]'' in the case of the [[Nigh Invulnerable]] ancient Maenad, Maryann Forrester. It's revealed by vampire queen Sophie-Anne that Maryann's powers are directly tied to her beliefs, stating everything in the universe imagined itself into existence. Thus by believing in her god Dionysus and becoming a maenad she was immortal. In the end Sam tricks Maryann into believing her god has returned from her sacrificial ritual by [[Shapeshifting]] into a bull and then impaling her in the chest. She is surprised when this happens, but rationalizes that if she is the final sacrifice for her god to come into the world, then she will accept it. She's shocked again when Sam morphs into his human form, questioning if there was even a god. This moment of vulnerability allows Sam to rip her heart out of her chest and crush it into the ground, finally ending her reign of hedonistic [[Mind Control]].
** Which raises the question, if Maryann could make herself invulnerable simply by believing in her god, then wouldn't a human be able to make himself invincible if he believed in their own religion like Christianity? And also, how did everything in the universe imagine itself into existence? Did some random thought just pop out of nowhere and everything came to be?
* The episode "The Mission" from ''[[Amazing Stories (TV series)|Amazing Stories]]''. Here's the description:
Line 92 ⟶ 81:
* ''The Mark Steel Lectures'' profile of Rene Descartes (see above) includes a spot where Mark invites the audience to stop and think about whether they actually exist for twenty seconds (with "Life is But a Dream" playing behind) ended with a buzzer and the message "Stop Thinking Now!".
▲* A [[Enemy Without|duplicator story]] in ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' ends this way. Calvin made a "good clone" of himself to dupe into doing his work for him, and proceeded to get into an argument with him. As soon as the good clone had a bad thought, it disappeared.
▲{{quote|'''Hobbes:''' [[Lampshade Hanging|Another casualty of applied meta-physics.]]}}
▲* [[Bloom County|Oliver Wendell Jones]] creates a math formula which explains the existence of everything everywhere...except penguins. Opus disappears, and then reappears when Oliver notices a mistake in the formula and rewrites it.
==
* The ''[[Dungeons
** It also plays with this trope with the spell Shadow Conjuration. It summons quasi-illusory monsters that are as powerful as the real thing if you believe they're real, and one-fifth damage if you don't.
*** And, like all things D&D, [[Game Breaker|it can be whored to ludicrous lengths]]. One prestige class specialises in shadow illusions. Layer enough "reality"-boosting effects, and you can [[Mind Screw|create illusions more real than reality]]. Cue humorous conversations:
Line 108 ⟶ 101:
* Another solipsism reference, from ''[[Scion]]'': the Knack Solipstic Defense allows you to ignore an attack entirely by believing it isn't real - since you have Legend, an element of the divine, what you believe ''goes''. But you can only muster that much belief once a scene.
** Of course there is the other requirement for using the power, namely that you are unaware of the attack.
** Aten, sole avatar of [[Light Is Not Good|Akhetaten, The Titan of Light]] (
* Pretty much the point of ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]'', and to a lesser extent ''[[Demon: The Fallen]]''. You can perform amazing feats as long as you keep them believable, such as conjuring money from your wallet, or causing lightning to strike during a thunderstorm. If you strain disbelief too much, or simply don't care and go all-out, it might still work, but you have a pretty good chance of getting smacked around by the universe at large on grounds that Magic Does Not Work That Way. This is true even if there's nobody watching, although it gets worse if there is.
** The setting explains that the main antagonists, basically [[The Men in Black]], came into power through a centuries-spanning [[Gambit Roulette]] of convinving the world at large that no, brooms can't fly, and that yes, you can heal people by injecting them with complicated chemicals. They have ''actually'' caused mythical creatures like unicorns to go extinct by making people stop believing them, and caused places like El Dorado to cease to exist by creating maps to prove they weren't there.
** There are some areas in the world where people still cling to their old beliefs, and thus the effect is reversed. In certain secluded spots in the Middle Eastern deserts, flying carpets and genies are considered normal, whereas ''airplanes'' are considered "vulgar magic" and a violation of common sense, and stop working as a result.
** It's worth pointing out an additional detail of the ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]'' setting, which is that there is absolutely no difference between Science and Magic. Science is just Magic that most people believe in, and therefore everyone can use. The various
* Also, ''[[Toon (game)|Toon]]''. Similar to the Wile E. Coyote example under cartoons, this RPG actually does allow your character to walk on air as long as you don't realize you're doing so. As soon as you [[Failed a Spot Check|make your spot check]], you fall.
* In ''[[Genius: The Transgression]]'', the inventions of [[Mad Scientist|Geniuses]] are literally powered by their creator's madness. If these creations are scrutinized by Muggles, these devices will stop working. [[Phlebotinum Breakdown|Of course]], [[Made of Explodium|that's the]] [[Instant AI, Just Add Water|best case]] [[
* In ''[[Macho Women with Guns]]'', the Batwinged Bimbos From Hell can learn the "Distort Reality" skill; when they are attacked, they can focus their attention on something else (their nails, a run in their stockings, a cloud, etc) and since they've forgotten the attack, it can't hit. It will instead target one of her allies, who might not appreciate the gesture.
* A variant happens in Gilbert and Sullivan's ''[[Ruddigore]]''. The Baronetcy of Ruddigore is cursed - its occupant must commit a crime every day, or die, dragged off by the ghosts of those previously killed by the curse. Until, that is, the current Baronet realises that suicide itself is a crime, and since not committing a crime is tantamount to suicide, this too counts as a crime. Therefore, none of the people killed by the curse should have died; as soon as this is realised, the former Baronets simply pop back to life, just in time to [[Pair the Spares]] with the female chorus.▼
== [[Video
▲* A variant happens in Gilbert and Sullivan's [[Ruddigore]]. The Baronetcy of Ruddigore is cursed - its occupant must commit a crime every day, or die, dragged off by the ghosts of those previously killed by the curse. Until, that is, the current Baronet realises that suicide itself is a crime, and since not committing a crime is tantamount to suicide, this too counts as a crime. Therefore, none of the people killed by the curse should have died; as soon as this is realised, the former Baronets simply pop back to life, just in time to [[Pair the Spares]] with the female chorus.
▲== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Divine Divinity]]'' had two [[Dem Bones|skeleton]] [[Mooks]] discussing the scientific impossibility of their very existence. One of them remarks that realizing the truth would be quite unpleasant and the other agrees to drop the issue. Still, the seeds have been planted and they both collapse immediately after.
* ''[[Planescape: Torment]]''. Being set in Planescape (mentioned above), ''everything'' works this way. Several notable examples include:
Line 129 ⟶ 120:
** At one point, the current incarnation is able to do this to {{spoiler|himself, literally ''willing'' himself out of existence}} [[Statistically Speaking|if your WIS score is high enough]].
* In ''Flight of the Amazon Queen'', you encounter a gorilla blocking your way. How do you get rid of it? By telling it that gorillas only live in Africa.
* In the first third-season episode of ''[[Sam and
* In ''[[Silent Hill 1]]'', {{spoiler|Lisa}} disappears in a puff of ''blood'' when she realizes that she is the same as the other monsters around her. [[And Then John Was a Zombie]].
* ''[[Super Scribblenauts]]'' allows the player to summon various deities. It also allows you to summon an atheist who upon seeing a god will immediately start displaying the "thinking" icon and run towards it, causing the god to die on contact.
* ''Almost'' happens twice in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' episode 4. The first near-
▲== [[Visual Novel|Visual Novels]] ==
▲* ''Almost'' happens twice in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' episode 4. The first near-[[Puff of Logic]] is actually suicidal in nature. The second is not, but it's quite a bit more brutal than a simple "puff".
** {{spoiler|Played straight in Episode 6, though, by Furudo Erika, after being disproven as the 18th person on the island.}}
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2005/10/11/episode-610-logic/ This] ''[[8-Bit
▲== [[Web Comics]] ==
**
▲* [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2005/10/11/episode-610-logic/ This] ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|8-bit Theater]]'' strip. (Incidentally, Red Mage tried this much earlier on a giant, and failed miserably.)
▲*** His reasoning was that, if Megahedron was a figment of Red Mage's own mind, then he'd be smart enough able to convince him of his existence, a task at which he had so far failed (Megahedron's own suggestion). And when Red Mage conceded that point, he went on to say that since Megahedron ''had'' convinced him with that argument, then that means that Megahedron ''is'' a figment. The only problem with that (which RM is too busy ignoring Megahedron to listen to) is that by that logic, Megahedron did ''not'' convince him. So that should convince him, which should not convince him, which should and [[Logic Bomb|oh dear, I've gone all cross-eyed]].
▲**** He encounters a similar situation during his trial for class promotion. He encounters a monster who keeps outwitting him. He "defeats" it by admitting that he has failed and cannot beat it; the whole purpose of the conflict was to teach him humility. As soon as the monster leaves, however, he assumes that he subconsciously outsmarted the ordeal and learns absolutely nothing.
* ''[[Captain SNES]]'' attempted this three times... twice in canon and once as a side-story. The first In-Canon attempt failed miserably, while the side-story one succeeded. The second time in canon, the victims did it to ''themselves'' accidentally.
* ''[[Stickman and Cube]]'' did this in the early "Cube Disappears" arc, which ended up creating the comic's first recurring villain.
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'': This is how Bun-Bun exorcised the ghost of [[Ayn Rand]] from Kiki
** No surprise here: the guest comic is courtesy of ''[[Bruno the Bandit]]'' creator Ian McDonald, who ''loves'' this trope.
* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0585.html #585]: Vaarsuvius attempted to use his Common Sense to aid in the Banishment of an enormous devil which was in clear violation of the [[Square-Cube Law]]. Didn't work.
** Another comic ([http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0321.html #321]) has the team's horses and riding dog disappear when Elan points out that they shouldn't be there. Only Durkon's pony, who had every right to be there, remained.
* ''[[Wonderella]]'' beats [http://nonadventures.com/2007/11/17/melanin-colleague-and-the-infinite-sadness/ WHITE SPACE] this way:
{{quote|'''Wonderella:''' You are ''blue''.
'''WHITE SPACE''' Oh dear. *
* ''[[PvP
** And he does it again, to a chimera this time, in [https://web.archive.org/web/20111209164858/http://www.pvponline.com/2008/09/18
* It occurs in [https://web.archive.org/web/20100324184534/http://www.smtenterprises.com/Comics/Comic90.html this] ''Sverd Shelgr'' strip, though it's more of story mechanics than true logic.
* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'': Melissa [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2011-04-26#comic attempts to deny a portly dragon its ability to fly], only to find that "'[[The Flight of Dragons]]' rules don't apply" in her [[Verse]].
* In ''[[Goblins]]'', one of the alternate universe Minmaxes ([[Fan Nickname|nicknamed]] Psimax) tries this on the Universe using some [[Insane Troll Logic]].
* In ''[[The Adventures of Dr.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130807021428/http://amultiverse.com/2012/05/21/the-dhal-goat/ Happens here] in ''[[
==
* ''[[Protectors of the Plot Continuum]]'' take [[Brain Bleach|Bleeprin]], a mixture of aspirin and bleach, to ease the pain of working with bad fanfic. The Board Constitution contains a clause which reads thus:
{{quote|Please refrain from reminding the agents that this is chemically impossible. They already know that, and they don't care. However, if you remind them of this, it may stop working. Then they would have to kill you.}}
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYM7Jgljmn0&t=3m40s In this parody of] ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' known as ''[[Kingdumb Hearts]]'', Goofy asks if [[The Heartless]] have no hearts, [[Literal
* In his review of ''[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/community/myvideos/74334-thebanjokid/video/5112-Banjo+Kid+Reviews%3A+Azumanga+Daioh Azumanga Daioh]''{{Dead link}},
* In ''[[Eddsworld]]'', the three main characters get a car and get it to fly by "using the Z-Gear of course". It goes up to very trippy music in which Edd and Tom start dancing in the car. Matt then shouts "how can a car fly?" It then falls down to land on top of a plane. This trope is then inverted when the pilot wonders [[Crowning Moment of Funny|whether his '''plane''' can fly]]. Then this continues and when the car gets there, several planes are now below them (each having doubted their flying capability).
* ''[[5
* ''[[Looney Tunes]]'':
▲== [[Western Animation]] ==
** Averted, or at least avoided, in [[Foghorn Leghorn]] cartoon "Little Boy Boo". While playing hide-and-seek with Junior, Foghorn Leghorn hides in a feed box, [[Tempting Fate|claiming the kid would need a slide rule to find him]]. Junior writes out some equations, using a slide rule no less, then marks a spot before somehow digging Foghorn up from it. This leaves Foghorn irate, at which point the child shows him the equations; forced to admit that "figures don't lie", Foghorn is nevertheless curious and makes to open the lid, but stops himself midway through.
{{quote|'''Foghorn:''' ...No, I'd better not look - [[Logic Bomb|I just ''might'' be in there]].}}
* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'':
**
* An episode of ''[[Histeria!]]'' had the kids annoying Rene Descartes ("I Think, therefore I Am") so much that he couldn't think. As soon as he realizes this, <nowiki>*poof*
* In ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'', Grandpa sees Tennessee Ernie Ford, an old celebrity whom he believes to be dead:▼
▲* In ''[[The Simpsons]]'', Grandpa sees Tennessee Ernie Ford, an old celebrity whom he believes to be dead:
{{quote|'''Tennessee:''' No, you just think I'm dead.
'''Abe:''' No, you're dead. I was your biggest fan. Look, I clipped your obituary.
''Tennessee gasps and turns to dust.'' }}
* An episode of ''[[Chowder]]''. "No. You're not in this episode."{{context}}
**
* The ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' episode "Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo" has the [[Bad Future]] version of Candace disappearing in one of these after Phineas points out she'd be gone after the two Candaces undid that future. Also earlier in the episode (...or, alternately, twenty years later), Candace climbed a holographic tree and stayed in the air until she remembered it was holographic, at which point it turns static and she suddenly fell.
* In the ''[[Powerpuff Girls]]'' musical episode, a gnome takes their powers to take the evil out of the city. Later, they regained them after learning that the gnome was being a communist by feeding off the wants of the people to thank him from that point on and forcing them to worship him. When they fought him later, they win by singing about how everything needs its opposites and chasing him off the edge of a giant vine. He then went into a non-singing speech saying "As I fall towards the earth, seeing the universe above me, I learn that life evolves, revolves, and dissolves completely around its opposites. Therefore, I conclude that I cannot exist in my utopian mind." When he hit the ground, all the lines became white and the colors became black, and he became a silent explosion.
* An episode of ''[[El Tigre]]'' had Frida defeat a skeleton by pointing out there was noting holding it up, causing it to collapse.▼
▲* An episode of [[El Tigre]] had Frida defeat a skeleton by pointing out there was noting holding it up, causing it to collapse.
* During the intro to an ''[[Arthur]]'' episode, Arthur is talking about the upcoming story while Francine is flying around in the background. At the end of the intro Arthur turns around and yells to Francine that flying around like that is impossible. She immediately crashes to the ground.
* Bender attempts to invoke this in ''[[Futurama]]'' with the Robot Santa. "Come on, everybody! He can't hurt us if we don't believe in him!" It doesn't work.
* ''[[The Critic]]'' episode in which Jay and Margo send their parents on a vacation for their 50th anniversary and they wind up on a dilapidated airplane flown by an alcoholic penguin.
{{quote|'''Franklin:''' Wait a minute... penguins can't fly... PENGUINS CAN'T FLY!
* In the ''[[Secret Squirrel|Super Secret Secret Squirrel]]'' episode "Quark", a sub-microscopic supervillain named Quark plans to flatten North America by "pulling out the bottom atom" of everything to make it all collapse, to make room for his own
== Jokes ==
* Old joke:
{{quote|Two men are standing on a skyscraper. Suddenly, the first one jumps down. The other one expects him to die horribly, but to his surprise, the first guy just bounces off the pavement, bounces a few more times, until he comes to rest. The second guy inquires how this is possible. The first guy explains: "[[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|It's all in your mind]]. You just have to think you're a rubber ball, and you will bounce just like a ball."
"And everyone can do that?"
"Yes, everyone, it's the easiest thing. Try it."
The second man is curious and really makes the jump. All the time while he's falling, he thinks "I'm a rubber ball, I'm a rubber ball".
Then, shortly before hitting the pavement: "But if I was a tomato?"
SMASH! }}
** Inversion Punchline: "[[Super Dickery|You're such an asshole,]] [[Superman]]."
* Descartes walks into a bar, the bartender asks him what he wants, and he orders a beer. He drinks it, and the bartender asks him if he wants another beer. Descartes says "I think not", and disappears in a puff of logic.
== [[Real Life]] ==
Line 217 ⟶ 196:
** Eh, doesn't matter.
* [[wikipedia:Self-refuting idea|Several other belief systems]] have this characteristic.
* According to the [[Jargon File]], [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/S/schroedinbug.html Schroedinbugs] are bugs in which a program works fine until someone looking at the source code realizes it shouldn't work, at which point it stops working.
** This actually does occasionally happen, mostly because it only works because of some strange bit of junk data lodged in the memory it references. When the program is edited, it references something else, which means that the little bit of randomness that made it work isn't there anymore.
* It's common to wake up from a dream when you realize that you're dreaming.
** If you manage to [[Lucid Dream|stay in the dream]] however, you can [[Reality Warper|take over the place.]]
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Absurdity Ascendant]]
[[Category:Logic Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Puff of Logic]]
| |||