(Taken from N'espérez pas vous débarrasser des livres by Jean-Claude Carrière & Umberto Eco)

Questioned about the building of the Aswan dam, the philosopher Michel Serres expressed astonishment that the project commission included engineers, architects, hydrologists and ecologists, but no philosopher and no Egyptologist. Astonished by Serres' astonishment, the journalist interviewing him asked what purpose a philosopher would have served on such a commission.

"He would have pointed out the absence of the Egyptologist," said Serres.