Same River Twice

Sweezus, Arthur, Victor and Kierkegaard are cycling towards Cape du Couedic.

Arthur and Victor are managing the ladder between them.

Should we be speaking in character? asks Victor.

There's nothing to stop you, says Sweezus.

There is, says Victor. What sorts of things did Heraclitus say?

I can help you with that, says Kierkegaard. Heraclitus is famous for saying you can't step into the same river twice.

Is that so? says Victor.

He certainly said it, says Kierkegaard.

Man! says Sweezus. That's deep when you think about it. Yeah. It's not the same river.

Why not? asks Victor. I step into the River Torrens. I step out.  I step in again. It's still the River Torrens.

The water is different, says Arthur. The section you stepped in has flowed past you.

Not always, says Victor.

Heraclitus would have been picturing a fast flowing river, says Kierkegaard. But a sluggish river is still changing from one moment to the next. 

Bugs, says Victor. Floating sticks. Condoms.

If you like, says Kierkegaard.

I get it, says Victor. Now how do I relate it to the ladder?

I'll leave that to you, says Kierkegaard. It'll seem more natural.

This is going well, says Sweezus. 

He looks at Arthur. 

I thought I was the ladder man, says Arthur.

Yeah, but more from the maths end, says Sweezus.

Maybe I'll make a mathematical discovery, says Arthur.

He starts counting the rungs.

This ladder, says Victor. It's the same ladder, no matter how far we are down the road.

Good point, says Sweezus.

But the scenery's different, says Kierkegaard.

And the angle, says Sweezus. When they go over a hole.

Arthur has never liked maths. He doesn't expect to make a mathematical discovery. 

He gets out his phone, and googles Thales.

One of the Seven Sages of Greece. Believed everything was basically made out of water.

Arthur is not impressed by his alias.

He starts googling maths jokes.