Actually, I said the same thing after I wrote it. Initially, I tried to convey the anecdote in prose, but I couldn't decide what the "message" was. I was readi

Actually, I said the same thing after I wrote it. Initially, I tried to convey the anecdote in prose, but I couldn't decide what the "message" was. I was reading GEB at the time, which inspired me to try a more indirect approach, in the style of a Zen Koan. The theory is that this lets the reader decide what their takeaway is.