{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "Alexander the Great swung his sword to cut the Gordian knot, but his sword struck on metal.\u00a0\n\u201cI neglected to mention\u201d, said the...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/714972153456492544/", "html": "<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"https://markadoo.tumblr.com/post/714710975059787776/alexander-the-great-swung-his-sword-to-cut-the\" target=\"_blank\">markadoo</a>:</p><blockquote><p>Alexander the Great swung his sword to cut the Gordian knot, but his sword struck on metal.\u00a0</p><p>\u201cI neglected to mention\u201d, said the sage who had informed Alexander about the knot in the first place, \u201cThere is a flexible steel cord inside the rope, specifically to prevent you from cutting it.\u201d</p><p>Alexander pondered. \u201cWhat if I burned it?\u201d</p><p>The sage laughed. \u201cSteel doesn\u2019t burn, idiot. Also, you shouldn\u2019t burn the rope because it\u2019s synthetic. Who knows what kind of harmful chemicals might be released.\u201d</p><p>Alexander weighed the pros and cons. On one hand, he didn\u2019t want to inhale noxious chemicals. On the other, king of Asia. He came to a determination.\u00a0</p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s not like I\u2019m gonna be inhaling these chemicals every day. Just this once.\u201d And so he burnt the rope. Once it had mostly sloughed off, untangling the thinner coil was easy.\u00a0</p><p>Moral of the story: It\u2019s ok to burn synthetics sometimes.\u00a0</p></blockquote>"}