# Cecil/Ed duality **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 5, 2003, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-ed-duality/166666 "2003-04-05T09:24:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-ed-duality/166666/1 "2003-04-05T09:24:31Z")
Ed writes part of this staff column: [How can light be both a wave and a particle?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlightwaveparticle.html) but doesn’t come across as especially knowledgeable about the topic. He’s mostly asking questions that one would expect Cecil to know the answers to. This is not the same intellect that composed the [Schoedinger verse](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_122.html), for example. So how does this affect the Ed=Cecil theory? Is Ed/Cecil dissembling to throw us off? Or does the fact that it’s written under the name of Ed have a significant impact on the apparent IQ? Is this a manifestation of an Ed/Cecil Uncertainty Principle? ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-ed-duality/166666/2 "2003-04-05T14:59:33Z")
If I bought into the whole Ed=Cecil thing, I would explain it as Socratic irony. ---
**Author:** ![Barks\_dog\_food](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@Barks\_dog\_food](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barks_dog_food)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-ed-duality/166666/3 "2003-04-05T16:35:00Z")
If you want to know if Cecil and Ed are one person why don’t you check if Ed worked on the railway like Cecil talked about here. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=171000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=171000) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-ed-duality/166666/4 "2003-04-05T21:03:20Z")
I’m not sure how I’d go about finding out if Ed worked for the railroad. But another theory just occured to me. Maybe Cecil is Ed’s _smarter_ brother. You know, like Sherlock and Mycroft. That would explain some of things they have in common, such as growing up in an Italian neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-ed-duality/166666/5 "2003-04-06T10:39:17Z")
Mr. Jekyll ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-ed-duality/166666/6 "2003-04-06T11:12:01Z")
**dtilque** : What else do they have in common? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-ed-duality/166666/7 "2003-04-06T21:40:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > **dtilque** : What else do they have in common? Everything. :eek: **RM** ’s idea may be closer to the mark. It may be a classic case of split personality brought on by … something. Whatever could induce Ed to change into Cecil. A radioactive spider bite or something of equal cosmic significance. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-ed-duality/166666/8 "2003-04-07T00:13:43Z")
You could try to blow tobacco smoke in Ed’s face, and see how he reacts. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-ed-duality/166666/9 "2003-04-07T09:34:19Z")
Everything, huh? So many things you can’t think of a one? :rolleyes: 😉