Muffin Explains Teleology to the World at Large

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I told my kid sister Muffin this joke.

There was this orchestra, and they were playing music, and all the violins were bowing and moving their fingers, except for this one guy who just played the same note over and over again. Someone asked the guy why he wasn’t playing like the others and he said, "They’re all looking for the note. I’ve found it."

Muffin, who’s only six, told me the joke wasn’t funny if you understood teleology.

I never know where she gets words like that. I had to go look it up.

TELEOLOGY [teli-oloji] n doctrine or belief that all things or actions are designed to achieve some end.

"Okay," I said when I found her again, "now I understand teleology. Why isn’t the joke funny?"

"You’ll find out next week," she said.

I talked to Uncle Dave that night. He’s in university and real smart, even though he’s going to be a minister instead of something interesting. "What’s so great about teleology?" I said. He looked at me kind of weird, so I explained, "Muffin’s been talking about it."

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