The Danger of One Voice & The Most Unreasonable Kiwi Antics

Question and Thought for the Day February 1, 2025

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Thought of the Day:
“Beware the student of one teacher.” — Bernadette Jiwa

You can always spot them. The disciple of a single voice, the person who has latched onto one teacher, one ideology, one way of thinking, and let it mold them completely. There’s no room for contradiction, no space for questions, just blind adherence to a singular path.

It’s easy to see why it happens. We crave certainty. We want answers wrapped up in neat little packages, preferably delivered by someone who seems to have it all figured out. But when you become a student of just one teacher, you don’t gain wisdom—you inherit dogma.

A well-rounded mind is like a well-balanced meal. You need a variety of nutrients, different sources of insight, challenges to your beliefs. Even if one teacher speaks profound truths, those truths are best tested against others. The best students are those who seek out perspectives that challenge them, who are willing to be wrong, who are comfortable in the discomfort of learning.

So, beware the student of one teacher—especially if that student is you.

Question of the Day:
“What’s the most unreasonable thing you could do with a kiwi (fruit or bird), and would you do it in public?”

First, let’s establish some boundaries. Are we talking about a kiwi fruit or a kiwi bird? Because the level of unreasonableness varies dramatically depending on which you choose.

With the fruit, the options are endless. You could attempt to juggle them while reciting Shakespeare. You could carve one into a tiny, edible shoe and try to convince people it’s high fashion. You could sneak them into strangers’ shopping carts at the grocery store and see if they notice at checkout. Would I do these things in public? Absolutely.

Now, with the bird? That’s another story. Kiwis are nocturnal, flightless, and, frankly, a little unimpressed with our nonsense. The most unreasonable thing you could do would be to try and train one to be a seeing-eye bird, which would be both wildly ineffective and an insult to guide dogs everywhere. Would I do this in public? No, because I respect kiwis, and also because I don’t need the New Zealand government adding me to a watchlist.

But if you ever see someone whispering secrets to a kiwi fruit like it holds the meaning of life… don’t be alarmed. It might just be me, running an experiment on how people react to the mildly absurd.

What do you think—fruit or bird? And what’s the wildest thing you could do with one?