Summary
Gulliver visits the political wing of Laputa's Academy, where professors propose increasingly bizarre solutions to government problems. One 'doctor' suggests treating senators like patients—checking their pulses and administering medicines based on their political ailments. Another proposes physical violence to help ministers remember important matters, or surgically swapping half-brains between opposing party leaders to create compromise. The professors debate taxation schemes that would tax people for their vanity (beauty, wit, courage) while exempting actual virtues like wisdom and justice—since no one would admit to having those anyway. Most disturbing is a professor who claims to detect treason by analyzing people's bathroom habits and bodily functions. Gulliver contributes his own observations about a kingdom called Tribnia (clearly England spelled backward), where professional informants manufacture conspiracies for political gain, turning innocent letters into evidence of plots through creative interpretation and word games. Swift uses this chapter to savage both the absurdity of academic 'solutions' to political problems and the paranoid conspiracy-hunting that plagued his era. The satire cuts deep because these aren't just silly ideas—they represent how power corrupts rational thinking and how fear makes people accept the absurd as necessary.
Coming Up in Chapter 23
Having seen enough of Laputa's bizarre experiments and political madness, Gulliver prepares to leave this floating island of impractical intellectuals. His next destination will bring new adventures and different kinds of folly to observe.
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An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
A further account of the academy. The author proposes some improvements, which are honourably received. In the school of political projectors, I was but ill entertained; the professors appearing, in my judgment, wholly out of their senses, which is a scene that never fails to make me melancholy. These unhappy people were proposing schemes for persuading monarchs to choose favourites upon the score of their wisdom, capacity, and virtue; of teaching ministers to consult the public good; of rewarding merit, great abilities, eminent services; of instructing princes to know their true interest, by placing it on the same foundation with that of their people; of choosing for employments persons qualified to exercise them, with many other wild, impossible chimeras, that never entered before into the heart of man to conceive; and confirmed in me the old observation, “that there is nothing so extravagant and irrational, which some philosophers have not maintained for truth.” But, however, I shall so far do justice to this part of the Academy, as to acknowledge that all of them were not so visionary. There was a most ingenious doctor, who seemed to be perfectly versed in the whole nature and system of government. This illustrious person had very usefully employed his studies, in finding out effectual remedies for all diseases and corruptions to which the several kinds of public administration are subject, by the vices or infirmities of those who govern, as well as by the licentiousness of those who are to obey. For instance: whereas all writers and reasoners have agreed, that there is a strict universal resemblance between the natural and the political body; can there be any thing more evident, than that the health of both must be preserved, and the diseases cured, by the same prescriptions? It is allowed, that senates and great councils are often troubled with redundant, ebullient, and other peccant humours; with many diseases of the head, and more of the heart; with strong convulsions, with grievous contractions of the nerves and sinews in both hands, but especially the right; with spleen, flatus, vertigos, and deliriums; with scrofulous tumours, full of fetid purulent matter; with sour frothy ructations: with canine appetites, and crudeness of digestion, besides many others, needless to mention. This doctor therefore proposed, “that upon the meeting of the senate, certain physicians should attend it the three first days of their sitting, and at the close of each day’s debate feel the pulses of every senator; after which, having maturely considered and consulted upon the nature of the several maladies, and the methods of cure, they should on the fourth day return to the senate house, attended by their apothecaries stored with proper medicines; and before the members sat, administer to each of them lenitives, aperitives, abstersives, corrosives, restringents, palliatives, laxatives, cephalalgics, icterics, apophlegmatics, acoustics, as their several cases required; and, according as these medicines should operate, repeat, alter, or omit them, at the next meeting.” This project could not be of any great expense to...
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Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Justified Absurdity
The tendency for people in authority to create increasingly elaborate and ridiculous solutions while convincing themselves these solutions are sophisticated and necessary.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to spot when authority figures use complexity to hide incompetence or justify their position.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when someone presents an elaborate solution to a simple problem—ask yourself what obvious approach they're avoiding and who benefits from keeping it complicated.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Political Projectors
Academics or theorists who devise elaborate schemes to fix government problems, usually with wildly impractical ideas. Swift uses this term to mock intellectuals who think they can solve complex political issues with simple formulas or bizarre experiments.
Modern Usage:
Think tanks, policy wonks, and political consultants who come up with complicated solutions that sound smart but ignore how people actually behave.
Satire
A literary technique that uses humor, irony, and exaggeration to criticize human folly or institutions. Swift doesn't just make fun—he uses ridiculous scenarios to expose real problems with how power works.
Modern Usage:
Shows like The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live's political sketches, or memes that make serious points through humor.
Tribnia
Swift's backwards spelling of 'Britain'—a thinly veiled reference to his own country. This lets him criticize English politics while pretending he's talking about some foreign land.
Modern Usage:
Like when comedians say 'a certain orange politician' or writers create fictional countries that obviously represent real ones.
Informants
Professional accusers who make their living by discovering (or inventing) conspiracies and plots against the government. They twist innocent words into evidence of treason to maintain their usefulness to those in power.
Modern Usage:
Whistleblowers, snitches, or people who make careers out of finding scandal and conspiracy theories on social media.
Anagrams
Rearranging letters of words to create new meanings, which Swift's informants use to 'prove' innocent letters contain hidden treasonous messages. It's a way of finding patterns that aren't really there.
Modern Usage:
Like conspiracy theorists who find hidden messages in song lyrics, or people who see secret codes in politicians' tweets.
Academic Absurdity
The tendency of scholars to propose solutions so removed from reality that they become ridiculous. Swift shows how academic thinking can become completely divorced from practical human experience.
Modern Usage:
Corporate consultants with theories that ignore how real workplaces function, or experts who've never done the job they're trying to improve.
Characters in This Chapter
Gulliver
Observer and narrator
He tours the political academy and records what he sees, sometimes contributing his own observations about government corruption. His role shifts from passive observer to active participant when he shares insights about Tribnia.
Modern Equivalent:
The journalist or documentary filmmaker exposing institutional absurdity
The Political Professors
Misguided theorists
They propose increasingly bizarre solutions to government problems, from medical treatments for senators to brain surgery for political compromise. They represent how academic thinking can lose touch with reality.
Modern Equivalent:
Think tank researchers who've never worked in government
The Ingenious Doctor
Medical political theorist
He treats political problems like diseases, suggesting senators be examined like patients and given medicines based on their political ailments. His approach reduces complex human behavior to simple medical formulas.
Modern Equivalent:
The management consultant who thinks every workplace problem can be solved with the right system
The Tribnia Informants
Professional accusers
They make their living by discovering or manufacturing conspiracies, turning innocent communications into evidence of treason through creative interpretation. They represent how paranoia becomes profitable.
Modern Equivalent:
Social media influencers who build followings by exposing supposed scandals
Key Quotes & Analysis
"there is nothing so extravagant and irrational, which some philosophers have not maintained for truth"
Context: After observing the political professors' wild schemes for reforming government
This captures Swift's central critique of academic theorizing—that intellectuals can convince themselves of anything, no matter how divorced from reality. It's a warning about the danger of pure theory without practical experience.
In Today's Words:
Academics will argue for absolutely anything if it sounds smart enough.
"These unhappy people were proposing schemes for persuading monarchs to choose favourites upon the score of their wisdom, capacity, and virtue"
Context: Describing the political professors' naive belief that rulers can be convinced to choose advisors based on merit
Swift highlights how academics misunderstand power—they think rational arguments can overcome self-interest and corruption. The word 'unhappy' suggests these professors are pitiable rather than evil.
In Today's Words:
These poor deluded people actually thought they could convince politicians to hire based on qualifications instead of connections.
"I have myself heard a very intense application of them made to a person of great conduct, whose intentions I am well convinced were very far from any such design"
Context: Discussing how informants twist innocent words into evidence of treason
This shows how the system of professional accusation destroys trust and makes everyone vulnerable. Even people Gulliver knows to be innocent can be framed through creative interpretation of their words.
In Today's Words:
I've seen them use these tricks on someone I know is completely innocent, but they made it sound like proof of guilt.
Thematic Threads
Authority
In This Chapter
Academic professors use their credentials to legitimize obviously absurd political solutions
Development
Builds on earlier themes of how institutional power corrupts judgment
In Your Life:
You might see this when managers implement complicated procedures that make simple tasks harder
Paranoia
In This Chapter
Professors claim they can detect treason through bathroom habits and bodily functions
Development
Introduced here as extreme suspicion masquerading as scientific method
In Your Life:
You might recognize this in workplaces where normal behavior gets interpreted as suspicious or disloyal
Manipulation
In This Chapter
Professional informants in Tribnia manufacture conspiracies by creatively reinterpreting innocent communications
Development
Continues the theme of how language and information get twisted for political gain
In Your Life:
You might see this when someone takes your words out of context to create drama or justify their actions
Self-deception
In This Chapter
Academics genuinely believe their bizarre solutions are rational and scientific
Development
Develops from earlier examples of how people rationalize their absurd situations
In Your Life:
You might catch yourself creating complicated explanations for why simple solutions won't work in your situation
Class
In This Chapter
Educated elites propose taxing beauty and wit while exempting wisdom because 'no one would claim to have it'
Development
Continues exploring how different classes view virtue and merit differently
In Your Life:
You might notice how people in your workplace get rewarded for appearing smart rather than being genuinely helpful
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What kinds of 'solutions' do the Laputa professors propose for political problems, and why are they so impractical?
analysis • surface - 2
Why do you think these intelligent professors genuinely believe their bizarre methods will work?
analysis • medium - 3
Where have you seen people make simple problems unnecessarily complicated in your workplace, school, or community?
application • medium - 4
How would you recognize when someone is using complexity to hide the fact that their solution doesn't actually work?
application • deep - 5
What does this chapter reveal about how power and status can corrupt even well-meaning people's judgment?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Decode the Jargon
Think of a recent experience where someone gave you an overly complicated explanation for something that should have been simple - maybe a bill, a work policy, or a school procedure. Write down what they said, then translate it into plain language. What was the simple problem they were supposedly solving? Who benefited from keeping it complicated?
Consider:
- •Look for who gains power or money from the complex system
- •Notice if the explanation uses impressive-sounding words but doesn't actually answer your question
- •Ask yourself what the simplest possible solution would look like
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you felt intimidated by someone's complex explanation, only to later realize the underlying issue was actually straightforward. How did that experience change how you approach similar situations?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 23: The Island of Magicians
What lies ahead teaches us power corrupts even our heroes when examined closely, and shows us we romanticize the past and demonize the present. These patterns appear in literature and life alike.