Popeye

Popeye

So keep "Good Be-hav-or", That's your one life saver
With Popeye the Sailor Man.

On December 8, 2009 a Google Doodle of Popeye The Sailor Man commemorated the 115th birth date of E.C Segar , Popeye's creator. Popeye is shown roughing up the Google logo while preparing to ingest a can of his beloved spinach, the source of his superhuman strength. In their mission to have a little fun with a memorable and adorable American icon, Google may inadvertently have provided a lesson in philosophy - proof of a negative.

 

From the Merriam-Webster online dictionary:

fiction, noun: something invented by the imagination or feigned; specifically : an invented story

 

If a character is deemed to be fictional is that not proof of a negative? Popeye does not exist as an independent sentient being. Nor could he exist in reality as he is said to possess powers that no human could possess.

Since we know the originator of this comedic character to be a human with an imagination and that Popeye did not appear to the world before January 17, 1929 we know Popeye is fictional. To be a fictional character, especially one with purported superhuman strength (when he eats his spinach), is to have no external presence as a sentient being. Since Popeye is fictional he does not exist except in the minds of those who have become aware of his fantastic exploits through mind to mind communication of some external sort. We do not expect to meet Popeye in person. He is a creature of our imaginations and does not exist without us.

 

To be fictional is to be contained within human minds. We may give existential expression to the character as was done with Popeye via comics, TV, movies etc. but we do not mistake these expressions in reality as anything but the physical representation of a creature of the mind. There is no sentient being with the properties possessed by the imagined character of Popeye. There is no human being with overdeveloped forearms who has superhuman strength after he downs a can of spinach.
 

From the Merriam-Webster online dictionary:

Supernatural, adjective: departing from what is usual or normal especially so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature

Similarly, we know that theocratic sacred texts were written by humans about the supernatural exploits of gods. Gods share many of the properties, such as superhuman strength, of known fictional characters. Many of us no longer believe in the external existence of Apollo, Odin, Horus, Zeus, Mithra, etc. We recognize them as creatures of the mind belonging to a more unenlightened time. We never expect to meet Superman, Batman or Spider-man in our travels in the real world unless another human is posing in costume.

The supernatural exploits of our favorite god mirror the properties of a creature of the mind and extend them into the realm of the quite fantastic. We can make our gods do anything. The imagination is not limited by the laws of nature, ergo gods can flood the world, walk on water and raise the interred, ergo...
 

We would like the world to be different than it is but prayer to an invented supernatural being will not change the way it is. We must adapt to the difficulties of our existence. Wishful thinking can provide direction but, if possible, only reason will drive us to our destination.