Talk:Black cat analogy
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Another view
[edit]I'd say philosophy was more like being in a dark room and discussing the possible existence of black cats... Peridon (talk) 21:22, 6 July 2013 (UTC)
This was made famous in joke form by Dave Allen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS3BZs5fx3Q could this be added to an "in popular culture" section? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.112.128.92 (talk) 16:57, 17 August 2017 (UTC)
Proverb
[edit]The proverb "In the dark, all cats are grey" exists also in German: "Nachts sind alle Katzen grau" (At night, all cats are grey)
- Maybe so, but Wendy Doniger, who is the source currently used here, says only that [some] Germans made the transition from cats to cows. Perhaps some Germans didn't. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:16, 26 July 2019 (UTC)
Use in (post) Soviet context
[edit]Like the comment by 23.28.85.229 on deletion nomination, I am not convinced this is really notable. Or even if it is a metaphor originating from philosophy – at least in the context of Soviet union (and Putin’s Russia), it seems to be used quite frequently:
1. I first saw it attributed to Confucius in Tengiz Abuladze’s 1984 cult film Repentance: “It is difficult to catch a cat in a dark room, especially when it is not there.” by the protagonist Varlam Aravidze (a parody of soviet and nazi leaders), who added “Our task is undoubtedly hard – but nothing is impossible for us. If we really want, we will catch a cat in a dark room, even when it is not there.”
2. Russian minister of defense Sergey Shoygu said in connection with the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea: “As for the allegations about the use of Russian special forces in the events in Ukraine, I will only say one thing: it is difficult to look for a black cat in a dark room, especially if it is not there. Especially if this cat is smart, courageous and polite.”[1]
3. In 2018, Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s representative to the United Nations used the proverb in a tweet, referring to the Skripal poisoning: «Confucius: “It’s very difficult to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no black cat”. Applies to both - alleged “Russian aggression” against Ukraine and mysterious “Novichok”.» [2][3]
4. In 2019, reacting to the conclusions of Mueller report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted “a Chinese philosopher who said, ‘It is hard to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if it is not there”[4]
—JTojnar (talk) 12:03, 28 February 2022 (UTC)
References
- ^ "Шойгу: сообщения о спецназе из РФ на Украине - паранойя". BBC News Русская служба (in Russian). 17 April 2014.
- ^ Polyanskiy, Dmitry (2018-04-05). "https://twitter.com/dpol_un/status/981916124001591301". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2022-02-22.
{{cite web}}: External link in|title= - ^ Taylor, Adam (2019-03-25). "Analysis | The Chinese proverb that Russia cited to respond to the Mueller report does not appear to be a Chinese proverb". Washington Post.
- ^ "Russia joins Trump in post-Mueller report victory lap". Washington Post.