Sunday, May 23, 2010

The Pope is fine and mild

Elf's exercise bike has a built-in digital thermometer. It sits in a sunny position, so sometimes it gets things a bit wrong. I was at home sick on Thursday, and although it was a mild enough autumn day, it was not 33°C as claimed by the bike. Our other way of telling the temperature is a Pope John Paul II souvenir thermometer, which claimed it was 20°C. Although the Pope is infallible, this does not apply to the thermometer for three reasons.
  1. Infallibility only applies to ex cathedra matters, eg religious doctrine
  2. Infallibility only holds for the current pope. Late popes are not infallible.
  3. It's just a really crappy thermometer.

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