It’s turtles all the way down

Jeg gået igang med at læse Terry Pratchett’s Discworld bøger. Discworld ligger på en skive, der bæres af 4 elefanter, der igen bæres af en gigantisk skildpadde, som svømmer langsomt gennem verdensrummet.
Det må være inspireret af Hinduistiske myter hvor verden bæres af elefanten Maha-pudma, der står på ryggen af skildpadden Chukwa.
Der er en historie, der tilskrives Bertrand Russel, som lyder noget ala dette:

“A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the Earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the centre of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy.
“At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: “What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.”
“The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, “What is the tortoise standing on?”
“You’re very clever, young man, very clever,” said the old lady. “But it’s turtles all the way down!”

Jeg synes det er et smukt billede på uendelig regres.