» On 6/06/2025 04:45:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
ChatWTF Meets The Firesign Theatre. 

After my wife triumphantly told me she won an argument with an AI, I decided to ask ChatGPT.com the famous AI-destroying question created by The Firesign Theatre in "I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus" (1971):
"Why does the porridge-bird lay his egg in the air?"
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L8KDJSHibA&t=300s
And this is the inaccurate rubbish that ChatWTF spewed out:

Ah, the question "Why does the porridge-bird lay his egg in the air?" is a surreal, nonsensical phrase famously used by comedian Andy Kaufman, particularly in his character Foreign Man (who later evolved into Latka Gravas on Taxi). It's not meant to make literal sense--it's a deliberate piece of absurdist humor.

The question exemplifies Kaufman's unique brand of comedy, which often blurred the line between performance, confusion, and audience discomfort. By asking something that sounds like it should be profound or metaphorical, but is instead totally illogical, he created a kind of anti-joke that plays with expectations.

So the answer is: It doesn't have a literal answer--it's performance art. The question itself is the joke.

###

Then I asked several other AI's, and I think China's DeepSeek (#3 below) bullsh*ts the best, finishing up its fabrications with emojis of a tornado, an egg, and a bird.

#1) https://www.meta.ai
That's a curious question! However, I think there might be some confusion. There's no such thing as a "porridge-bird" that lays eggs in the air. It's possible that you might be thinking of a different creature or a fictional reference. Could you provide more context or clarify where you heard about the porridge-bird? I'd love to help you explore this further!

###

#2) https://gemini.google.com
This sounds like a riddle or a line from a folk tale rather than a scientific question about a real bird. No known bird species lays its eggs directly "in the air." Birds require a stable surface for their eggs to develop, typically a nest.

If you're thinking of a specific story or riddle, providing more context might help me understand the "porridge-bird" and why it lays its egg in such an unusual way!

###

#3) https://chat.deepseek.com
The "porridge-bird" is a whimsical creature from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, specifically mentioned in the song "You Are Old, Father William" (though not in the original poem by Robert Southey). The verse goes:

*"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak-
Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength which it gave to my jaw
Has lasted the rest of my life."

"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose-
What made you so awfully clever?"

"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said his father. "Don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you downstairs!"*

However, the porridge-bird itself appears in a parody song from Alice, where it says:

"The porridge-bird lays its eggs in the air,
For the sake of the breeze, I declare!"

Why Does It Lay Eggs in the Air?
Carroll's nonsense verse plays with absurdity and illogical logic, much like the rest of Wonderland. There's no real "reason"--it's a playful inversion of nature, where birds (which normally lay eggs in nests) defy expectations by laying them mid-air, perhaps "for the sake of the breeze."

This mirrors other Wonderland absurdities, like the Pigeon accusing Alice of being a serpent for having a long neck or the Mad Hatter's unsolvable riddle ("Why is a raven like a writing desk?"). The porridge-bird's behavior is just another example of Carroll's love for topsy-turvy logic and fantastical zoology.

Deeper Interpretation?
Some scholars suggest Carroll's nonsense often critiques Victorian rigidity, mocking the need for everything to have a rational explanation. The porridge-bird's airborne eggs might symbolize the futility of over-analyzing nature (or art)--sometimes things just are delightfully nonsensical.

So, in short: because Wonderland! 🌪️🥚🐦

Labels: ai