[HPforGrownups] Re: Fourth Man

[Edblanning at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 38427

Cindy:

> Eloise wrote:  
> 
> > Yeah. Dump poor Avery, then it all works. But wasn't the whole 
> thing about 
> > the Fourth Man Kayak/ Hovercraft, whatever, the identification of  
> the Fourth 
> > man with Avery? Was I missing the point?
> 
> No, you didn't miss the point.  I thought the brilliance of the 
> Fourth Man Theory is that it identifies Avery as the Fourth Man in 
> the Pensieve.  If you break that link, you have gutted Fourth Man.  
> You are back to the Dark and Primitive Pre-Fourth Man Era, in which 
> no one even *tried* to figure out whether the Fourth Man in the 
> Pensieve scene would be important.  In fact, most everyone assumed 
> he was a throw-away character, because he didn't even have a name.
> 
> Fourth Man changed all of that.  If I understand things correctly, 
> that is.  So Avery is an integral part of the Fourth Man 
> Hovercraft.  I only try to toss him overboard because . . . well, 
> because he's kind of a wimp and he lets me.  I have to amuse myself 
> somehow, don't I?  ;-)
> 
> But with people deserting Fourth Man in *droves* (and I think we 
> already established that two deserters is a drove), maybe we'll have 
> to downsize to the little two-man kayak and give the big, expansive 
> Hovercraft to some other theory.  ;-)
> 
> But then again, I'm no Fourth Man Expert.  I'm a Fourth Man 
> Apprentice.  I'm just here to learn.

You're too modest ;-)

Hang on a minute, Cindy, am I being equated with half a drove, here?
Lets get this straight. What I actually said was that I had argued myself out 
of FMAT, but (being the annoying kind of person that I am and always needing 
to see at least two sides of any argument) there were two logical 
alternatives for the Fourth Man: either Avery, or another individual yet to 
be revealed. (Another individual who is bound to be important and have lots 
of Big Bang potential, mind.) And there I sat, on the horns of a dilemma. 

Ouch!

Now..... I was listening to another of those fascinating discussions on Radio 
4 yesterday (good old BBC) when the answer to my problem suddenly appeared 
like a sword out of a Sorting Hat.

All we need  here is a simple application of quantum mechanics. Just as in 
the paradox illustrated by Schrodinger's imaginary cat experiment, where the 
cat is simultaneously both alive and dead, the Fourth Man can simultaneously 
both be and not be Avery. And if we move on to embrace Everett's many worlds 
theory (and since we already talk about the Potterverse, which is presumably 
different from our universe, this shouldn't be a very big step), then we can 
have multiple Potterverses where Fourth Man can be alive, dead, Avery, not 
Avery and come with every side-dish imaginable.

There. Simple. I never knew quantum theory could be so useful.

Eloise
Who by the same principle now declares herself to be simultaneously a crew 
member and not a crew member of the Fourth Man Hovercraft. (Though a 
re-stocking of the bar might just tip the balance.)


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