This is The Nooner, a (very short) daily newsletter slash podcast that has its very own section within Dispatches from Inner Space.
To see the first post, which doubles as an explainer, click here.
Also a quick reminder that you can listen to the podcast version of each post wherever you listen to podcasts.
How to boil a frog
We’ve all heard the boiling frog metaphor, we’ve all used the boiling frog metaphor, but just to make very certain that we’re on the same page about the boiling frog metaphor, here it is:
If you drop a frog into boiling water, it will jump out immediately. But if you gently lower it into cool water, then very gradually turn up the heat, that sucker will sit there calm as can be until it boils to death.
The reason you’ve heard this, and I’ve heard this, and everyone has heard this, is because it’s a great way to illustrate how a person can acclimate to a real bad situation until it’s way too late.
Two thoughts.
First, as far as the metaphor goes, it describes a pretty bleak reality. We can talk about trying to avoid the fate of the boiling frog all we want, but how often has it made a difference? After all, I bet the frog’s buddies were like, “Dude, you gotta get outta there,” and he was just like, “Whatever, I feel great.”
The point is that we can become desensitized to the gradual onset of danger, so that we do not perceive the true threat. And what we do not perceive, we do not believe.
But, PLOT TWIST! The story is fake.
Because you’re not a sadist (presumably), you never ran the experiment, did you? Well, thankfully, there are some sadistic scientists out there who DID run the experiment, and guess what? Frogs can tell when the water is too hot, and they’ll hop right on out long before they turn into French cuisine.
So where does that leave us? How much like frogs are we, really?
I’d like to believe that the metaphor still holds, even with its facts corrected.
In other words, if things get bad enough that we start to boil, we’ll notice.
In other other words, it’s never too late. Whenever we finally notice the water heating up, there’s still time to make like a frog, and hop right on out.
How to boil a frog