In the Abstract - Lauren Ipsum: A Story About Computer Science and Other Improbable Things - page 65

They took a booth at the Push & Pop Café and ordered full stacks of pancakes. Instead of
cutting through the whole pile of pancakes, Winsome ate them off the top of the stack, one
by one.
Mystified, Laurie watched Winsome until she could no longer contain her curiosity. “Why
are you eating your pancakes funny?”
“I'm not eating them funny. You're eating them funny.”
Laurie didn't push the question, but instead tried another. “What should I do about my map?”
she asked between bites.
“Beats me, girl.” Winsome said. “So let's play a game that will help us figure it out.”
“What game?”
“It's called Five Whys. It's a game to play when you get stuck.”
“How do you play?”
“I ask you a Why question, and you answer, and then I ask you another, until we find the
reason you got stuck,” Winsome said.
“For example?”
“For example,” Winsome began, pausing to swallow her last bite of pancake, “why do you
want to follow that map?”
“It's the one Hugh Rustic made for me with his ants,” Laurie said. “He found a short-enough
path through all of the towns.”
“So why did you want to find a short-enough path?”
“Because there are blippity-million paths through Userland, and Tinker didn't know how to
find the shortest one,” Laurie said.
“Why did you ask Tinker for the shortest path?”
“Because Eponymous said that the Wandering Salesman's algorithm—well, she didn't say
'algorithm,' I figured that out later—she said his algorithm wasn't sensible.”
“Why did you want to use the Salesman's algorithm?”
“Because that's how he finds his way home.”
“Why did you think his algorithm made sense for you?”
“Because I . . .” Laurie hadn't thought about it. “I don't know.”