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Trying to simply define a "Catch 22"


MickinMD

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I was asked what a "Catch 22" is.

I couldn't quite put it into easy-to-understand words.  I said I had read the book "Catch 22" and in it the "catch 22" was that a WW2 bomber pilot couldn't get out of the ever-increasing minimum number of required missions by claiming he was crazy because wanting to get out of the missions proved he wasn't crazy.

So, it's sort of an action being prevented by something involved with wanting to do the action.

Apparently, the dictionaries can't put it into easy-to-understand words, either:

Oxford:  Catch-22, noun: catch-22; a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.

Merriam-Webster: catch-22 noun, often capitalized: a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule.

Any easy-to-understand thoughts?
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1 hour ago, MickinMD said:

Oxford:  Catch-22, noun: catch-22; a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.

This. With a few adjustments… stuck between a rock and a hard place…between the devil and the deep blue sea…clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right…

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5 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

I didn't say that I understand everything.

Except somehow the clowns and jokers must cancel each other. Like to become a certified clown, you have to have joker training. But you can’t get joker training without showing your basic clown credentials. 

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4 hours ago, MoseySusan said:

Except somehow the clowns and jokers must cancel each other. Like to become a certified clown, you have to have joker training. But you can’t get joker training without showing your basic clown credentials. 

  4 hours ago, Kzoo said:

We have @Dottles and @Razors Edge on each side and I don't they've had any training or hold any certifications.

It's not too late to edit this statement to make a lick of sense!

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  • 6 months later...

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