About New York

 My brother PJ is taking some holidays in New York. He is going today. When I spoke to him last night, it struck me that I have yet to visit the USA, which is a shame. And that of all the places in the US I would love to see, New York is... not on the top of my list. I am not certain why. I have a housemate back at uni who was from there and he was a great guy. Actually, I met a few Americans from New York and they all seemed really nice. I enjoy a lot of movies and TV shows set there. I think maybe that's why, actually: New York has been featured in so many films, so many TV series, so many novels, so many everything, it does not feel new or exotic. It's like I am afraid I would be disappointed, or underwhelmed, if I was to take holidays there. Nevertheless, there is one place I want to go to that is in New York. But that is for another post.

The weight of Manhattan

Today, my manager was reading online about absurd questions that have been known to be asked at job interviews, and he came with one that he found particularly tricky: "What is the weight of Manhattan?" He had the answer on his screen and asked us what we thought. I gave him the right answer immediately, which flabbergasted him. The answer is below, I will let you think about the question and see if you can get it without reading further. My second paragraph has clues that will help you.

I didn't know the answer, I had not read it on the internet before (as my manager suspected at first), however I knew how to deduce it. You know how to do it? If you are a bit familiar with René Magritte, it should come to you easily. In my case, I immediately remembered my course of linguistics in cégep and Ferdinand de Saussure. If you have been reading this far, you have enough clues to find out. And you know that the answer is not found through geology, physics or mathematics. Have you given up yet? Found it? Well, here it is: Manhattan has no weight. See, Manhattan is a word and thus is weightless. Simple linguistic: a sign has no relationship other than an arbitrary one to the concept it represents. Words have no weight, size, form or existence in themselves. I have to say, I am quite proud of myself.