--- In [email protected], "Hugo" <richardhughes...@...> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > <snip> > > > I passed along a metaphor some days ago that > > > no one commented on, but I'll do so again > > > because I think it explains a great deal about > > > all of us here, both those with lingering TM > > > loyalties and those without. The question is > > > HOW did we ever come to accept as not only > > > normal but "more than normal" in a positive > > > way things that most people on the planet, if > > > they encountered them, would consider crazy > > > or at the very least eccentric, and not very > > > admirable? > > > > > > The answer -- for me -- is "frog in a pot" > > > syndrome. Throw a frog in a pot of boiling > > > water and it instantly gets that it is in > > > danger, hops out, and lives to hop another > > > day. But put a frog in a pot of cold water > > > and then slowly raise the heat to the boiling > > > point, and the frog will stay there until > > > the water boils, and die. It's the *gradual* > > > increase of danger that the frog does not > > > perceive as dangerous. > > > > OK, I'll comment on it (in a desperate attempt > > to, you know, derail the conversation). > > > > The "'frog in a pot' syndrome" is, er, pseudo- > > science: > > > > http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/frogboil.asp > > > > More succinctly: According to Dr. George R. Zug, > > the curator of reptiles and amphibians at the > > National Museum of Natural History, "Well, that's, > > may I say, bullshit." > > > > If you throw a frog in a pot of boiling water, > > it will of course attempt to escape, but it's > > very likely to die of burns even if it does > > manage to get out. > > > > If you throw a frog in a pot of cold water and > > gradually raise the temperature, the frog will > > leap out as soon as the water begins to become > > uncomfortable, well before it gets hot enough to > > harm the frog. > > > > So, are people dumber than frogs? Or is the > > harmfulness of the water temperature a matter > > of perception? Is one person's boiling pot > > another person's comfortably warm bath? > > > > For some of us, of course, the water became > > uncomfortable very early on, and we jumped > > out, although we still find moderately hot > > water useful for, say, making tea and washing > > dishes. As long as we don't have to be > > *immersed* in it, we don't see its very > > existence as a frightening threat, and we > > don't feel a compulsion to pursue a crusade > > against it for decades. > > > > Barry will no doubt be relieved to know that > > the Evil Hillary used the frog myth several > > times during her campaign, so it's not that > > he's the only person on earth who still isn't > > aware that it's what James Fallows calls a > > "stupid, cruel, hackneyed, and unscientific > > cliche." > > > > See Fallows's Boiled Frog Archive here: > > > > http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/boiledfrog/ > > > > http://tinyurl.com/36p2sv > > > > (And no, I didn't "Google" the boiled-frog > > canard in order to write this post. I'm a > > regular reader of Fallows's excellent blog, > > so I took advantage of his documentation.) > > > > Boy, talk about missing the point!
Um, did you read the whole post? > I thought it was a great analogy about what it's > like to join the TMO without knowing what it's really > like and then having the drip-drip of weirdness grow > ever more difficult to bear before hopping out. Don't you get it? I'm trying to *distract attention* from Barry's point in order to keep anybody from discussing the weirdness of the TMO. I mean, I'm one of those crazy, brainwashed TBs who believes (as I'm being boiled to death) that every single thing the TMO does is a function of its perfect coordination with the Laws of Nature and is therefore not to be criticized. Sheesh. *My* point is that, like frogs, people stay with the TMO as long as it's tolerable; but that, unlike frogs, people have a wide range of tolerances. My tolerance was very low, and I beat feet very quickly. (And this was long before it really got weird.) Barry's tolerance was high enough for him to stay with it for many years, but apparently it did him so much damage that for many years since he's been compelled to constantly attack TMers who never had much investment in the TMO and don't react so violently to its weirdness. He reminds me of nothing so much as the Ancient Mariner.
