this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2025
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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 53 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I remember growing up as a kid, doing my time in Sunday School, and getting this story pitched as "Wise King Solomon ferret's out the truth of maternity by determining which claimant truly cares about the life of the child".

It's kinda crazy how the story has permuted into "Two women fight over a thing and both agree splitting it in half is the fair solution."

[–] lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 4 days ago

What I like about the story is that true motherhood isn't about biology or DNA but about caring. And I get why even people who care about the well-being of a child wouldn't care about the well-being of an atom

I think the permutation is because it works better on a comedic level. Probably started out as basic "But what if king Solomon did cut the baby in half" arguments and eventually became a general joke. The base level of "cut the baby in half" is already dark by itself all it takes is going through with it and you have a good bit of dark humor.

Also the whole scenario of king Solomon almost comes across as him not necessarily being particularly smart but moreso that the people he was dealing with were crazy or stupid.

[–] Velypso@sh.itjust.works 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

You are waaaay overthinking this

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

They're just describing the plot of the actual story though...

[–] Velypso@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago

Except they forgot this is a joke.

The story hasn't permuted into cutting things in half is the fair solution. No one is seriously telling that story.