AlanBarr:
Someone asked a pure mathematician, and applied mathematician and a statistician what was the answer to "2 plus 2".
The pure mathematician replied "4".
The applied mathematician took out his calculator and replied "3.9999998"
The statistician said "Well, what would you LIKE the answer to be?"
Ask an mathematician how much two and two is
without hesitation he'll tell you its four
ask an accountant and he'll say
"I'm fairly certain, but let me run through those figures once more"
Ask a doctor and he'll think about malpractice
and tell that he's fairly sure at the very least its three
Ask a lawyer and he'll lock the door and draw the curtain
and whisper to you "how much do you want it to be?"
(from "The Cheap Lawyer" an SF filk (parody) of "The Destroyer", which i heard performed by the author many years ago (87-88 i think), but can't recall the author's name just now.)