subatomic particles
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Hehehe, 
That was in reference to an elderly woman who believed the world was supported on the back of a turtle, when asked “well what is the turtle standing on?” she replied “You don’t fool me young man, it’s turtles all the way down!” To which the next question the lecturer thought to ask was “All the way down to what?”… but decides against pursuing it.
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My jaw dropped when you said this! One of my close friends who was a tool-and-die maker and worked in the instrument shop on campus would tell me this! He also would say, the more you know the harder things are!
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The ole Münchhausen Trilemma. That Baron, what a joker!
I thought that I was introduced to the infinite-turtle trope by Terry Pratchett. Wikipedia tells me that I heard about much earlier, from Dr. Seuss.
Since the 1980s or so the story or trope has been so well known that frequent references were made in pop culture and popular literature. Many variants now have a “scientist” replying to “a little old lady”, the scientist variously taking the identity of Arthur Stanley Eddington, Thomas Huxley, Linus Pauling, or Carl Sagan, etc., although in the 1970s the “Hindu” or “Oriental” background still seems to have received more frequent mention.
The parable is also referenced by Dr. Seuss in his 1950 book Yertle the Turtle. When Yertle topples from atop his turtle tower he sees and is told “It is Turtles all the way down.” source
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That’s funny!
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