You can convert B*
to A*
, but not B**
to A**
.
Suppose A
is fruit and B
is apple, then A*
is a little arrow that can point to a fruit (any fruit) and B*
is a little arrow that can point to an apple (and only an apple). You can take an apple arrow, relabel it as a fruit arrow, and give it to somebody that expects fruit arrows. It indeed points to a fruit because an apple is a kind of a fruit. So far so good, no surprises here.
Now A**
is a little arrow that can point to a little arrow that can point to a fruit (any fruit), and B**
is a little arrow that can point to a little arrow that can point to an apple (and only an apple). What will happen if you take the latter, and give it to somebody who expects the former? That person can go along the arrow that can point to an arrow that can point to a fruit (any fruit!), take that second arrow, and turn it around and make it point to a banana.
Now the unfortunate apple guy guy who used to have a double-apple-arrow goes along the first arrow, then goes along the second arrow that ought to point to an apple, and finds a banana there, a fruit he sees the first time in his miserable life. That's a pretty unfortunate situation if you ask me. We shouldn't be surprised if things go bananas from this point on!