Pears

what I have depends on what counts and how I count it

I have pears. Some pears. Four. I have four pears. If you take away a couple, I have a couple. Yet I didn’t have a pair of pears before. Fewer pears, but something more.

Moving two from me to you creates a couple couples where a single quadruple used to be. You can’t take a pair as that’s four. Not a couple, but a couple more.

Now you have the pair of pears I never had before. I have zero pears. Zero number; not some or any. ‘How many’ is none. I have no pears. Pears I have, yet not a one.

About Me

Roger Kenyon was North America’s first lay canon lawyer and associate director at the Archdiocese of Seattle. He was involved in tech (author of Macintosh Introductory Programming, Mainstay) before teaching (author of ThinkLink: a learner-active program, Riverwood). Roger lives near Toronto and offers free critical thinking and character development courses online.

“When not writing, I’m riding—eBike, motorbike, and a mow cart that catches air down the hills. One day I’ll have Goldies again.”