# The Door Into....? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504 "2008-07-07T01:09:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/21 "2008-07-07T04:20:26Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] How would throwing a small mammal help you? Would it be trained to come back and tell you what was going on inside? Or do you just like slinging small mammals about? šŸ˜› [/QUOTE] Tie a leash around its neck and yank it back. If it is burning, smoking, disintegrated (i.e. no animal just the collar), gasping for breath, or the like, Iā€™m not going. Of course the danger in yanking it back is that it might Bring Something With It. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/22 "2008-07-07T04:28:46Z")
Iā€™ve been thinking about this - it boils down to whether maggenkid is with me, after all, Iā€™m a mother first. So, if Iā€™m on my ownā€¦ I carry on with my day. If sheā€™s with me, we grin at each other and \*run \*through the door. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/23 "2008-07-07T05:08:25Z")
Iā€™d open the door, then peek inside. If I donā€™t see anything dangerous or threatening, I go in. ---
**Author:** ![meenie7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@meenie7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meenie7)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/24 "2008-07-07T05:31:21Z")
Iā€™d drop something small like a pen in, to make sure there was a floor on the other side, then go through. Maybe itā€™s a door to another worldā€¦or maybe itā€™s finally the proof that the afterlife or God exists or something else amazing like that. As a lover of knowledge and proof, I would have to know. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/25 "2008-07-07T05:31:46Z")
I wait for the countdown. When it hits ā€œ1ā€, I step in. 'Cos, I think it _might_ be an elevator. But if itā€™s not, then Iā€™ll still get inside. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/26 "2008-07-07T06:06:05Z")
[QUOTE=meenie7] Iā€™d drop something small like a pen in, to make sure there was a floor on the other side, then go through. Maybe itā€™s a door to another worldā€¦or maybe itā€™s finally the proof that the afterlife or God exists or something else amazing like that. As a lover of knowledge and proof, I would have to know. šŸ™‚ [/QUOTE] Grey mist. No sound. And unless you are The Batman, you are _not_ carrying a small mammal and a piece of rope or string. ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/27 "2008-07-07T06:24:27Z")
I think Iā€™d have to step through because Iā€™d be afraid the door would vanish after the countdown and Iā€™d spend the rest of my life wondering what would of happened if I stepped thorugh. ---
**Author:** ![meenie7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@meenie7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meenie7)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/28 "2008-07-07T06:33:56Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] Grey mist. No sound. And unless you are The Batman, you are _not_ carrying a small mammal and a piece of rope or string. [/QUOTE] Well, poop. How am I supposed to know Iā€™m not stepping into a bottomless pit or some celestial elevator shaft? ā˜¹ ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/29 "2008-07-07T08:38:30Z")
Iā€™d feel around with my foot first to make sure there is a floor, but Iā€™d go through (before the countdown is over, 'cause Iā€™m guessing the door disappears after 1). If something like that happened Iā€™d assume I was dreaming or hallucinating anyway, so why not? And Iā€™d never forgive myself if the door went away and I didnā€™t find out what was behind it. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/30 "2008-07-07T10:16:37Z")
[QUOTE=3acresandatruck] I whip out a can of Krylon and I paint it black. [/QUOTE] šŸ˜ƒ Iā€™d let it go. Yes Iā€™d always wonder what was on the other side, but one look at my son would tell me whether Iā€™d made the right choice. Heā€™s enough of the unknown wonders of the universe for me. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/31 "2008-07-07T10:34:44Z")
Since I donā€™t have children, or common sense, Iā€™d go through. (I mean, seriously. If I didnā€™t, Iā€™d always be wondering what it was all about.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/32 "2008-07-07T11:29:55Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] How would throwing a small mammal help you? Would it be trained to come back and tell you what was going on inside? Or do you just like slinging small mammals about? šŸ˜› [/QUOTE] Youā€™re presumably never heard of the Boomerang Shrew or the Yo-Yo Vole - in which case any ordinary small mammal tied securely to an elastic thread would suffice. I honestly donā€™t know whether Iā€™d step through or not. The grey mist doesnā€™t sound particularly inviting though. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/33 "2008-07-07T11:36:54Z")
Iā€™m another person with no kids so Iā€™d go through. Heck, it canā€™t be worse than whatā€™s on _this_ side. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/34 "2008-07-07T11:38:56Z")
I agree with the others whoā€™ve been pointing out that anyone who can make a door materialize in front of me doesnā€™t need elaborate traps to do me ill. And Iā€™d go nuts if I didnā€™t take the chance. Well, further nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/35 "2008-07-07T11:57:01Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] I agree with the others whoā€™ve been pointing out that anyone who can make a door materialize in front of me doesnā€™t need elaborate traps to do me ill. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but anyone powerful enough to do it, but careless enough to make the intent so completely ambiguous might be better steered clear of. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/36 "2008-07-07T12:03:54Z")
Well, Iā€™m a person with three small children, Iā€™m my parentsā€™ only child, and I like my life quite well the way it is, so Iā€™m sure as heck not stepping through some mysterious misty doorway. For one, if they REALLY want me to cross, theyā€™ll come back more than once. For another, my first instinct for any strange doorway is, _itā€™s probably some kind of trap_. Never mind one that appears from nowhere with a bizarre hook to it. Even if there were no mist, and I could see a green field with bunnies hopping around or something on the other side. Whoā€™s to say they arenā€™t _killer_ rabbits? In fact my immediate reaction would be to do a 180 and look behind me. If I were setting a trap involving teleporting doorways, Iā€™d pop up two of them on either side of someone, so that in the act of fleeing in a panic from the one in front the person ends up going right through the one behind them. Put me in another situation, though, where I have really nothing to leave behind worth worrying about, like if I were terminally ill, and Iā€™d step through in a heartbeat. Iā€™d definitely throw something through the doorway, though. Whatever loose change is in my pocket, or else one of my house keys or a random plastic membership card I have in my wallet. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/37 "2008-07-07T12:09:03Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Yeah, but anyone powerful enough to do it, but careless enough to make the intent so completely ambiguous might be better steered clear of. [/QUOTE] Very likely. I didnā€™t say I thought it was a _good_ plan. Just that my curiosity bump is such that it would never leave me in peace passing that up. And, well, a lot of the reasons that people are mentioning for not going through just donā€™t apply to me. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/38 "2008-07-07T15:11:38Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] Perhaps itā€™s a curiosity test ? [/QUOTE] Iā€™m no oneā€™s lab rat, thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/39 "2008-07-07T15:23:39Z")
[QUOTE=El\_Kabong] Iā€™m no oneā€™s lab rat, thank you very much. [/QUOTE] I bet youā€™d be a lab rat if it was a test to see whether Jessica Alba or Scarlett Johansson was better in bed. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/40 "2008-07-07T16:02:52Z")
Iā€™m quite suprised at the number of people who would step through. I suspect this number would be decimated if the situation actually occurred! Iā€™m a gambler, but my reaction was more like **Q.E.D.**'s. I have a strong survival instinct. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504.md?page=3)