The philosophy instructor asked who played an instrument. I raised my hand and said I played the bass. He asked, "Are you good?" I replied, "Yeah, I guess so." "How do you know?" he asked.
I made a quick mental calculation. "He's not looking for a resume of my accomplishments," I thought. "I'll bet he's trying to tell us that everything is relative."
"It really demands on the standard of comparison," I answered. "I'm not Charles Mingus, Jaco Pastorius, or Ron Carter. Compared to someone who doesn't play the instrument or someone who has just begun, though, I'd say I sound good."
That was the type of answer the teacher wanted. In his defense, he did tell the class early in the semester, "I'll contradict you no matter what you say."
