Rational Donkey

[Darwinian]

Imagine a donkey equidistant between two barrels of hay. Now imagine that this donkey is a rationalist, someone who will do nothing if it is not in accord with the dictates of reason. He cannot reason why one mound of hay is superior to the other. He stays in the middle trying to decide which should be his supper. Since there is no reason to move to one or the other, in time, the donkey starves to death.

Then the donkey does not live by reason or logic alone. He is stupid. If the two barrels of hay are identical then the logical thing to do would be to pick one at random. The illogical thing to do would be to starve to death.

Who ever came up with this as an example is a bit soft in the head..

You could say..

Imagine a donkey equidistant between two barrels of hay. Now imagine that this donkey is a fundamentalist, someone who will do nothing if it is not in accord with the dictates of pure faith. He cannot understand why one mound of hay is superior to the other and concludes they are evil. He stays in the middle praying for guidance. Since there is no answer, in time, the donkey starves to death.