An Imagined Conversation Between Simplicio and Savantus.
Savantus: Hi, Simplicio, how goes it?
Simplicio: Hello, Savantus. Not so well?
Savantus: Let me guess. You still have doubts your parents are really your parents.
Simplicio: I still have my doubts, yes.
Savantus: You look very much like them. You have your mother’s eyes and nose, your father’s chin and mouth.
Simplicio: No doubt we share those characteristics; I believe we are related. Possibly they are my grandparents.
Savantus: Your grandparents! Hey, I remember the last time we talked the three of you were having an DNA analysis done. How’d that go?
Simplicio: The doctors were happy enough, but to my mind it was inclusive.
Savantus: How so?
Simplicio: They determined that half of my chromosomes were identical to a subset of my alleged father's chromosomes and the other to my alleged mother's.
Savantus: How is that inclusive?
Simplicio: It’s just test tubes, microscopes and centrifuges. You know theoretical stuff.
Savantus: So you prefer to believe those are your grandparents and not your parents?
Simplicio: I have no choice. I have my grandfather’s mouth and chin, my grandmother’s eyes and nose. But I’m taller than both of them! Neither of them have my hairline or my smallish ears. There must be someone who shares more of my characteristics and theirs; a missing link between me and them…my parents.
Savantus: I see. Suppose you find your parents. Given that the number of possible characteristics is nearly infinite, do you suppose that you will have traits that neither of them share?
Simplicio: Possibly….but then there will be another gap. How will I know they are my real parents and not my grandparents?
Savantus: What if you never find a couple who fill the gap exactly as you expect? What if there is no "missing link"?
Simplicio: Obviously, if there's no one between the couple who I now take to be my grandparents and me, then I'm not even related to my presumed grandparents! If there's no link to join the chains, there are just two unrelated chains, right?
Savantus: You’ve got a real problem there, Simplicio.