We have been in the US now for 21 days which fully qualifies us to comment on what we can learn from the US. There are three questions I have been able to answer since coming to the US that I was unlikely to be able to come to a conclusion on in the UK.
Question 1 - What is philosophy useful for?
I have found three main purposes for Philosophy since coming to the US. The first is to provide a framework by which to understand and assess the world around us. The second is to fix fridges with, and the final one is to kill black widow spiders. There may well be more but I have only had my book for seven days and I have found it an invaluable tool on all three fronts.
Question 2 - Is it possible to walk unnoticed in a library while wearing flip flops?
Emphatically no. It does not matter what style of walking you choose it still sounds like you are beating a bald man soundly around the head with a fish. The quicker the walk the more violent the beating.
Question 3 - Can a US voice activated telephone menu speak English?
Again it was a no. No matter how politely, slowly or loudly I talked in my beautiful English accent it was not good enough. So I was reduced to putting on my best Californian accent (which is stunningly convincing - or at least Verizon think so) to order my broadband setup.
So there you have it. Three nuggets of information not available in the UK. I will enrich your lives with more as they come along.
