The Parable of the Boiling Frog
“If you drop a frog into boiling water, it will jump out and survive. But if you turn up the temperature slowly, it will remain there until it dies.”
Turns out that idea is bullshit.
If you drop a frog into boiling water, its muscles will likely stop working before it can escape. It may try, but it’s too late. However, if you drop it in at room temperature then heat very slowly it will most likely jump out of the pot well before it would die.
Why? Have you ever met a frog? What kind of frog likes sitting in a pot of water for any length of time? A kitchen pot is not its ideal environment of rocks, moving water, and food. If nothing else, like most animals, it can sense the current temperature and move to where it’s most comfortable, as soon as it’s free to do so.
However, the “rings true” metaphor for humans implies that we won’t fight back if our rights are slowly taken away. But we will supposedly revolt if the loss is more sudden.
Is that really true, or maybe residual bullshit as well?
If a regime was elected for a [second?] chance at authoritarianism, some of us will surely resist. But, as we’ve seen, too many people would go along with it as the new normal…
