# Wiki-walk to philosophy **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 25, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178 "2011-05-25T17:42:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/21 "2011-05-25T18:32:52Z")
Wow it only took 16 clicks to go to Alan Shearer (nineties soccer player) to philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/22 "2011-05-25T18:33:00Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > “Philosphy,” by the way, leads to a consciousness-awareness loop. > > ETA: and who wants to be trapped in a consciousness-awareness loop, I ask you? It sounds like a problem for a New Age seminar. Actually, I think it’s nicely evocative – perhaps it should be considered a strange loop. However, if I start from philosophy, the first link takes me to rationality, which links to reason, which links back to rationality… And from consciousness, I go ‘mind’, ‘panpsychism’, ‘philosophy’… ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/23 "2011-05-25T18:33:20Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > I tried it with barefoot running and ended up in a loop about 9 links deep, so I moved on to the second word in the article that started the loop and ended up in a different loop. On to the third word, different loop. Ah, yes, that leads to a trait-phenotype loop. Too bad. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/24 "2011-05-25T18:36:20Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I’ve done 10 more walks starting with random articles. Nine of them led to knowledge: Yes, Grasshopper, with some practice I think you’ll find they _all_ lead to _knowledge_. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/25 "2011-05-25T18:36:44Z")
Avoid anything related to the USSR. It’s a 2 link loop (Soviet Union -\> Constitution of the Soviet Union -\> Soviet Union) ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/26 "2011-05-25T18:36:44Z")
Yeah, Mathematics is now “out of the loop” after edits today - but it leads into the “Knowledge” loop now. Maybe some enterprising editor can get that one cleaned up. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/27 "2011-05-25T18:39:07Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Actually, I think it’s nicely evocative – perhaps it should be considered a strange loop. > > However, if I start from philosophy, the first link takes me to rationality, which links to reason, which links back to rationality… The first link in Reason is Faculty, which redirects to Sense and ultimately leads to Knowledge. My mistake was skipping Faculty and clicking on Mental Ability.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/28 "2011-05-25T18:40:06Z")
I can confirm that looking up goatse.cx leads to knowledge. (btw whatever you do, don’t enter that address into your browser) ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/29 "2011-05-25T18:47:32Z")
I did it! Random article FTW! From East Fallowfield Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania to Philosophy in 9 links! ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/30 "2011-05-25T19:11:44Z")
Okay I tried again with a random article (Thanmanpillai Kanagasabai) and it took me fourteen links. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/31 "2011-05-25T19:40:48Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > Damn, I got caught in a small loop. Civil Law \> List of country legal systems \> Civil Law. How boring. Huh? [Here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_law) are all the civil law disambiguations - none of them have “list of country legal systems” as the first non-italics/parenthesis link. Civil law (area) goes to Mathematics, which has been put back on the philosopher’s road. Civil law (common law) doe the same. Civil law (legal system) seems to have been just edited to get it on track… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/32 "2011-05-25T20:49:45Z")
Hmm. This works in Finnish wikipedia as well - from “towel day” to “philosophy” in 16 links. If you start from the English article of “towel day” you end up in an Indo-European language -loop, on the other hand. Curiouser and curiouser. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/33 "2011-05-25T20:50:17Z")
Mathematics now gets to Philosophy via Quantity, Property (philosophy), Modern philosophy, Philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/34 "2011-05-25T21:14:41Z")
Well, I started on Erik the Red and got stuck on Theodiscus, as the first link on that article redirects back to itself. Brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/35 "2011-05-25T23:21:40Z")
I got from the random article _Three Day Road_, a Canadian novel, to Philosophy in 20 clicks, ending via the sequence that **fiddlesticks** described. Eerily enough, Three Day Road is partly inspired by a Native Canadian soldier who was born in my hometown. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/36 "2011-05-26T00:36:43Z")
The reason it works is that the first few sentences in a wiki article usually place the article’s subject in a more general context. So, with a few deviations you get more and more general. “heavy metal” goes to “rock music” goes to “popular music” goes to “musical genres” goes to “genres” etc. etc. Since philosophy is the most general of all fields, it’s very likely you’ll eventually wind up there, barring loops. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/37 "2011-05-26T01:01:47Z")
Bender Bending Rodriguez got me there in c. 12 clicks. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/38 "2011-05-26T02:32:03Z")
Are we supposed to ignore the etymology/pronunciation part? Because I keep getting stuck in Ancient Greek -\> Greek Language -\> Greeks -\> Greek Language -\> etc. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/39 "2011-05-26T03:33:05Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Are we supposed to ignore the etymology/pronunciation part? Because I keep getting stuck in Ancient Greek -\> Greek Language -\> Greeks -\> Greek Language -\> etc. Yeah ignore that, that should be in parenthesis. OP says to ignore everything in italics or parenthesis. I started with Michael Jackson and 17 clicks later got to philosophy. It did take a spin through Knowledge first. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178/40 "2011-05-26T12:36:16Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > The first link in Reason is Faculty, which redirects to Sense and ultimately leads to Knowledge. My mistake was skipping Faculty and clicking on Mental Ability.:smack: I think links in bold are OK – in which case, the first link from reason is rationality. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiki-walk-to-philosophy/583178.md?page=3)