Multiple Horse Explanation
Six horses were standing in approximately the same location.
- Horses required
- 6
- Physics violations
- 0
Equine Ontology Report Β· Vol. 01
Multiple
Horse Theory
The controversial hypothesis that there is more than one horse on Earthβand that each horse you see may, in fact, be a different horse.
Current estimate
1 ?
Begin investigation β
Status: controversial
Evidence: developing
Horses confirmed: β₯1
The proposition
For centuries, mankind has operated under one basic assumption:
π
There is a horse.
Multiple Horse Theory asks a dangerous question:
π
π
What if there is another horse?
Experiment 01
The alleged βherdβ
A foundational challenge to the Single Horse Model: what happens when several horses appear to occupy the same place at the same time?
βSo you think that time I saw a group of horses together it was multiple individual horses & not the same horse multiple times in the same place? Idk, this theory seems pretty wild.β
How many horses are in this image?
No answer recorded.
Experiment 02
The Mirror Hypothesis
One horse. Lots of mirrors. An aggressively economical answer to the apparent population problem.
βOne horse, lots of mirrors. Its the simplest explanation given we know that there is only one horse.β
π
π
π
π
π
π
π
2 mirrors deployed
Evidence registry
Global Horse Sightings Database
Classify each observation. Your decisions will be used to estimate your personal horse population.
Exhibit B
Different colors. Same day.
βI've seen horses that are different colors, and on the same day so no drying time in between sightings. β΄ I would tend to believe the theory.β
πChestnut
πBay
πBlack
Possible explanations:
Select an explanation for committee review.
Actual science: UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory describes chestnut, bay, and black as base horse coat colors influenced by MC1R and ASIP genes.
Formal objection
Mathematics says no.
A proof by induction appears to establish that every horse is the same horse. It is elegant, concise, andβregrettablyβbroken.
Theorem MHT-ΞALL HORSES ARE THE SAME HORSE
01
A group containing one horse contains only the same horse. Trivially true.
π
02
Assume any group of n horses is actually one horse. Consider n + 1.
π π π π
03
Remove the last. The remaining n are βthe same.β Remove the first. The other n are also βthe same.β
π π π π
π π π π
04
Therefore all horses are the same horse.
Q.E.D.
βAh yes, the Canter Set.β β exkingzog
Competing frameworks
Counter-Theory Laboratory
Multiple Horse Theory is not the only model. Select an alternative and inspect its explanatory burden.
Experiment 03
The Horse Identity Test
Can you tell whether two sightings depict the same horse? More importantly: can anyone?
Pair 1 of 5
Are these the same horse?
Actual science: Research published in Scientific Reports found that horses could discriminate a familiar human from an unfamiliar human using photographs of faces. The horses may, therefore, be judging our identity work as well.
External assessment
Peer Review
Selected comments from the original r/shittyaskscience discussion, classified by methodological contribution.
Personal framework
Build Your Own Horse Model
Adjust the assumptions below. The Institute will classify your equine ontological position using methods of questionable validity.
Provisional conclusion
So⦠are there multiple horses?
Evidence strongly suggests:
There may be
more than one horse.
more than one horse.
Observed during this session: 1 horse
Research remains ongoing.
Notes & sources
A tiny amount of actual science survived.
The page is satire. Reddit comments are used as source material for the fictional theories; the research links below support the real scientific and philosophical asides.
- Harvey Mudd Math Fun Facts β βAll Horses are the Same Colorβ
- UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory β Equine Coat Color Genetics
- Scientific Reports β Female horses identify a familiar human from a photograph
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy β Platoβs Myths / Allegory of the Cave
- Original r/shittyaskscience discussion