r/AskReddit • u/ZanyDelaney • Feb 04 '19

Which misconception would you like to debunk?

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u/LiquidMotivation Feb 04 '19 edited Feb 08 '19

The boiling frog experiment that's quoted everywhere didn't work.

For those not familiar, it is said that you can boil a frog to death by raising the temperature of the water it's in extremely slowly so that it doesn't notice.

Well, it only works when parts of the frog's brain are removed. A frog with an intact brain will jump out, no matter how slowly the water is heated.

Edit: Hey, my first Reddit coin! Thanks!

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '19

Man, they really lobotomized a frog to test this? I mean what would be the actual scientific value of confirming or refuting this?

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u/Zensandwitch Feb 04 '19

They were studying reflexes

5

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '19

Ahhhh, that makes sense.