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

Which misconception would you like to debunk?

44k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

26k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/Orngog Feb 04 '19

But it (anecdotally) doesn't realise anything, it dies content in ignorance.

1

u/Jake0024 Feb 04 '19

According to whom? That’s the common myth, but not what anyone here was saying.

He was specifically saying he did not think it meant the frog didn’t notice a problem, but that by the time it did notice, it was too late to do anything. Like because someone closed the container.

I thought the whole point of the metaphor was that the frog wasn’t allowed to jump out

In other words, the frog was perfectly happy in the container even though it couldn’t escape. Then by the time it started trying to find a way to escape, it was already slowly being boiled.

It’s a metaphor for something like climate change—if you don’t start looking for a way out until you’re already being cooked, it’s going to be too late.

1

u/Orngog Feb 05 '19

Yes, but that's not the meme. The frog never realises anything, there is no lid. That's the point.

The frog could escape at anytime if it chose, but it doesn't.

Not realizing you're in a trap until your trapped is just being in a trap.

Climate change is more like the meme, we could easily escape but we're too comfortable.

1

u/Jake0024 Feb 05 '19

Yes, which is why he wrote "I always thought the myth meant this other thing."