Long Pig BBQ ( was RE: [UA] Silly Epideromancy Rules question )

[Tim Toner]

If you believe that your thoughts originate inside your brain -- do you also
believe that television shows are made inside your television set? - Warren
Ellis 

> I based the height of unintentional cannibalism on the myth of Atreus.  I
> also gauged it to be a pretty strong taboo based on historical stuff...
> didn't some members of the Donner party starve to death rather than eat
> human flesh?  Or am I thinking of that Andes plane crash?
> 

There was a great Discover Magazine article from 1992 that went into the
'why they survived' argument.  Some fascinating insights into human nature.
For instance, a disproportional amount of women and children survived (given
that biologically they have less reserves to go ton) because the big
strapping men were more likely to engage in behaviors that would allow
exposure to get the better of them.  I've located a PDF copy of the article
and placed it here:

http://www.vonsteuben.org/~tonert/donner.pdf

Also, this whole conversation reminds me of one of my favorite lateral
thinking puzzles.  The idea is to present a scenario that seems
straightforward, if a little vague, and the players have to interrogate the
questioner with questions that can only be answered with "yes" or "no".
Slowly, the true story unravels.  In this case, the proposition is "A man
walks into a restaurant, orders the special, takes a bite, walks out of the
restaurant and kills himself."


The solution (rather convoluted as these things tend to get) is that the
diner was once a castaway with two other men on a large island with fresh
water but no food.  All attempts to catch fish failed.  The only source of
food (besides the obvious long pig) were albatross that always managed to
fly off before the castaways, in their weakened condition, could catch them.
One castaway slips and hits his head on a rock, killing him.  The diner
refuses all overtures to dine on their hapless friend, and gets more and
more weak.  Finally, his companion shows up with a delicious stew made from
albatross.  The diner scarfs it down, and comments on how delicious it is.
They feed off of albatross for a week, giving them enough time to be found
and rescued.  The two men went their separate ways.  A while later, the
diner notices an upscale restaurant is serving roasted albatross.  Recalling
how delicious it seemed then, he places the order.  In a single bite, he
realizes that what he ate tastes NOTHING like this, and promptly kills
himself.

I got it in about 75 questions.