The baby and the bathwater...

[fajrdrako]

If the temperature in the bathtub is raised only one degree every ten minutes, how does the bather know when to start screaming? - Marshall McLuhan, 1911 - 1980

When it starts to hurt, of course. This is one of those statements which - it seems to me - confuses the theory of an event with the experience of an event. We don't scream because water burns us at a certain temperature, we scream because it hurts. Doesn't matter what the temperature is. Pain is pain.

Reality does not depend on our knowledge or understanding of it.

Comments

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the evidence: I found it hard to believe, but didn't have the story to hand. It just ran contrary to the way I believe the world to be. Of course, some things do. But... common sense counts for a lot, and I try not to believe things just because they are said.

And frogs can be pretty goofy.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I find www.snopes.com to be my very best friend when it comes to this kind of thing. I'm usually reassured to learn that something's not true, but from time to time I've been amazed to learn that something actually IS!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes. I should remember to look at it more often. I often hear things that just don't sound right but said with such authority that my faith wavers. I must remember that there's somewhere to check.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I have relatives who tend to forward me things a lot. :-P

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

How handy!

I have many friends who forward me things - sometimes I read them, sometimes I just delete them, sometimes I just shrug... and sometimes they're worth reading.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I have a bad tendency to reply and give them links debunking whatever it is. I'm kind of pedantic that way; haha, I'm sure my aunts enjoy me lecturing them on the interwebs.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I think that's good - hopefully your aunts will learn something from it all, including not taking things at face value.