Ratiocinatio (ra’-ti-o-cin-a’-ti-o): Reasoning (typically with oneself) by asking questions. Sometimes equivalent to anthypophora. More specifically, ratiocinatio can mean making statements, then asking the reason (ratio) for such an affirmation, then answering oneself. In this latter sense ratiocinatiois closely related to aetiologia. [As a questioning strategy, it is also related to erotima {the general term for a rhetorical question}.]
I had been working for a billionaire Canadian for ten years.
Not only is he a billionaire, but he is “slow.” His father had dropped a chainsaw on his head when he was just a little tyke. The grip handle struck him on the side of the head. The blow made him deaf in one ear and mildly addled his brain, affecting his decision-making skills, but also making him an idiot savant in two areas: 1. In minutes, he could count the number of leaves on a maple tree, 2. He became a beaver whisperer and built a real estate empire, employing beavers to erect his inventory of shopping malls, theater complexes, and three-bedroom homes.
We made a lot of money with maple leaf scam. We go to a gambling casino and find a well-heeled player. We get to talking while my boss stands there looking like the idiot that he is. I laugh and tell him my rich brain-damaged brother thinks he can count the number of leaves on a a maple tree. At that point my boss steps in and says “Wanna bet?” Usually the mark shows no hesitation. There were small maple trees growing by the casino, so we went outside for the “count” but not before the $5,000 bets were made. The mark picked out a tree.
My boss had a leaf-counting app on his phone. It was developed initially for landscapers to use to estimate the cost of removing leaves from customers’ properties. Anyway, after the boss said his leaf count, he’d run the phone app to see who won the bet. The app was humorously named “Leaf it to Me.” The app’s count and his count were always identical. We won the bet every time without cheating. We had always followed the seasons so he’d have maple leaves to count.
But isn’t this a kind of cheating? Not disclosing the boss’s unique ability makes it seem like the odds are stacked way in favor of the mark. But, the boss was given a special gift. He should use it. If the gift does more harm than good, though, he should probably quit using it. He should realize that his beaver building empire is netting more income than Greenland’s GNP. In addition, he could find a socially responsible use for his maple tree leaf counting genius. We couldn’t find one, but the boss was still compelled to count leaves—he would become homicidal if he couldn’t count for one month. We took that into account. If he abstained he would eventually kill somebody. We started down the road of the lesser of two evils: cheat or murder?
Eventually, we came up with a solution: he would give the marks their bets back. we rejoiced and he made us his special barbecued beaver tail with potato salad and baked beans.
The Daily Trope 