The Burning Masterpiece
Which do you save?
Level 1 · 9 / 10
The Burning Masterpiece
A fire breaks out in a famous art gallery. The original Mona Lisa is going to burn to ash. You are standing next to a perfect 3D-printed replica. It is atom-for-atom identical to the original. You can save the replica or save a blurry photograph of the original taken by a famous artist. You only have time to grab one.
Which do you save?
Then ask
- If the replica is physically identical, why do we care about the original?
- Does the history of an object live inside the object?
The classics and some new ones. A scenario, the question it forces, and the follow-ups that make it bite.