koan: /koh'an/ n. A Zen teaching riddle. Classically, koans
are attractive paradoxes to be meditated on; their purpose is to
help one to enlightenment by temporarily jamming normal cognitive
processing so that something more interesting can happen (this
practice is associated with Rinzei Zen Buddhism). Hackers are very
fond of the koan form and compose their own koans for humororous
and/or enlightening effect. See Some AI Koans, has the X
nature, hacker humor.
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