Inspired by Bob Woodruff’s special Earth 2100, which (on the clip showed on The Daily Show) uses the tired old “if you put a frog in boiling water he’ll jump out but if you put him in cold water and heat it gradually he’ll stay in til he boils to death”. This is an interesting and perhaps effective metaphor, but it’s not true. In fact, if you raise the heat too quickly the frog will jump out from the heat, too gradually he’ll jump out because that’s what frogs do- they don’t sit still for 20 hours at a time.
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I still hear “Until Columbus they thought the world was flat” a ridiculous degree on shows that should know better. I won’t even go into this one here other than to say that by Columbus it had been accepted science that the world was a ball for well over 1000 years (wiki Aristotle, Eratosthenes, and others for cite).
It’s funny you should mention this.
I just read an article the other day tittled: “Opposites do NOT attract” the article stated that statistic show that people who have more in common are more likely to have lasting relationships. (romanticaly speaking)
I’m going to pinch a movie quote that’s become a cliche.
“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.”
I’d have a better idea of where I was going if my life came with a picture on the front of the box, a list of ingredients on the side and a map under the lid.
“It’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.”
Really? Not always true. I’ve had some pretty painful break-ups in my life and I’ve often felt that I’d have been better off alone the whole time.
“What comes around goes around.”
Explain that one to Idi Amin, who spent his sunset years lounging pool-side in Saudi hotels.
Buy some in-season fresh tomatoes and some out-of-season ones. Note which ones taste better and which ones are more expensive. (You could try this with many other fruits and vegetables if you don’t like tomatoes)
Or any death. If someone dies, it’s a pretty good sign that something happened that was more than they could handle.
“A fish rots from the head down.” People say that to be cynical about corruption. Actually, a fish rots from the gut out. That’s where most of a fish’s bacteria are.
I’m rather fond of **“Feed the exception, starve the rule.” **It makes no sense, but that’s why I like it.
Did this article have to do with the study they did last year that discovered that people aren’t looking for partners who are dumber, uglier, and poorer than they are? I’ve always felt that the people who did that study don’t understand the spirit of what is meant by “opposites attract”… There are ways in which this cliché is probably true, but few people are probably looking for someone who is their opposite in every way.
How about a different love cliché: “Love will find you when you’re not looking for it/least expect it”?
If this one were true, why didn’t I discover the love of my life my freshman year of college when, in addition to the normal adjusting to college issues, I was dealing with my grandfather’s cancer/subsequent death, my insane roommate, and my family’s efforts to fulfill my grandfather’s last wish by keeping his mother out of a home by living with her and caring for her as she sank deeper into Alzheimer’s? I’ve never in my life been less interested in romance than that year. It didn’t come find me, either. :dubious:
