# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**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 10, 2008, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/81 "2008-07-10T11:43:20Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] I’m curious-was the “Welcome” mat a major factor in anyone’s decision? [/QUOTE] It makes me suspicious, for reasons I can’t seem to adequately describe. I think it’s the question as to why the entity responsible for the phenomenon would go as far as to make it look welcoming, but not so far as to explain _what the hell this is all about_. The welcome mat is a bit like the worm on a fish-hook, to me. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/82 "2008-07-10T11:48:06Z")
At the end of, “… to the benefit of others”, I should have added, “or one’s self.” ! ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/83 "2008-07-10T13:18:26Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] The answer is that you show a tendency to run _towards_ the unknown, instead of away from it. If you think that this is good in the long run, then going through that door was the right thing to do. I’m curious-was the “Welcome” mat a major factor in anyone’s decision? [/QUOTE] Or maybe we have a tendency to _run from the known_ rather than towards the unknown. I tend to take welcome mats at face value. Who do you know puts out a welcome mat, then does something horrible to you? Does anyone have any first hand experience with a welcome mat that was also an insidious trap? [QUOTE=ivan astikov] The unknown is only worth knowing if the new found knowledge can be passed on to the benefit of others. In the scenario Czarcasm provides, there is no indication that this is likely to happen, so what would be the point of entering? [/QUOTE] I would know. Besides, nothing in the scenario says you can’t ever return. Maybe you can! I’d still go. ---
**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 10, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/84 "2008-07-10T13:23:00Z")
[QUOTE=legalsnugs] I tend to take welcome mats at face value. Who do you know puts out a welcome mat, then does something horrible to you? Does anyone have any first hand experience with a welcome mat that was also an insidious trap? [/QUOTE] No, but none of the examples I have so far encountered have been associated with mysteriously magically-appearing, time-limited portals. Context is everything. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/85 "2008-07-10T13:23:27Z")
[QUOTE=legalsnugs] I tend to take welcome mats at face value. Who do you know puts out a welcome mat, then does something horrible to you? Does anyone have any first hand experience with a welcome mat that was also an insidious trap? [/QUOTE] Surely an entity considerate enough to place down a welcome mat, would also be thoughtful enough to make their challenge less ambiguous…unless it was a trap??? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/86 "2008-07-10T13:29:16Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] I’m curious-was the “Welcome” mat a major factor in anyone’s decision? [/QUOTE] Naw. I can see **Mangetout** ’s point, but it just never mattered to my decision. ---
**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 10, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/87 "2008-07-10T13:58:50Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] Surely an entity considerate enough to place down a welcome mat, would also be thoughtful enough to make their challenge less ambiguous…unless it was a trap??? [/QUOTE] Then again… an entity powerful enough to create the phenomenon, but malicious, would be easily capable of making it appear _completely benign and unambiguous_, or just whisking you away and eating you, regardless of any magic door. ---
**Author:** ![puppygod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@puppygod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puppygod)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/88 "2008-07-10T14:21:07Z")
I would kick the doors open and jumped through them. Probably humming Indiana Jones score. When confronted with dream-like reality warping phenomenon you can as well play along, and do it with style. ---
**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 10, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/89 "2008-07-10T15:02:01Z")
Let’s hope the properties of the phenomenon allow you to reach back and retrieve your hat. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/90 "2008-07-10T15:07:34Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Then again… an entity powerful enough to create the phenomenon, but malicious, would be easily capable of making it appear _completely benign and unambiguous_, or just whisking you away and eating you, regardless of any magic door. [/QUOTE] Aha, but..ah, but…but… Fuck it! Ready, or not. Here I come, mysterious red… ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/91 "2008-07-10T15:16:00Z")
**Czarcasm**! Why you…_checks fora_…\!!! I know there’s _really_ nothing there, the dor is imaginary, blah blah blah. But those of us who went through are curious, and since it’s your door, it’s your place to make something up. Please? If you don’t, I’ll be doomed to wonder forever, just as if…I had found a mysterious door and never gone through. Seriously, I’m weird like that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/92 "2008-07-10T16:00:04Z")
I have, in fact, had experiences with man-eating welcome mats. Part of why I said to dive through. Well, in the dungeons and the dragons. But hey, that’s where you get mysterious portals. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/93 "2008-07-10T16:16:10Z")
I would go through, after checking with my foot to make sure there’s a floor to step on (I ain’t stepping off a cliff). I’d probably spend the first 20 seconds futily poking about trying to figure out what it was, but I’d go. [QUOTE=Frank] (One should always have a small mammal secreted about one’s person just in case.) [/QUOTE] Best quote in the thread. And no, wombats don’t count as _small_ mammals. We’re kind of medium-sized. And we have pouches to secrete small mammals in. ---
**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 10, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/94 "2008-07-10T17:09:18Z")
[QUOTE=freekalette] **Czarcasm**! Why you…_checks fora_…\!!! I know there’s _really_ nothing there, the dor is imaginary, blah blah blah. But those of us who went through are curious, and since it’s your door, it’s your place to make something up. Please? If you don’t, I’ll be doomed to wonder forever, just as if…I had found a mysterious door and never gone through. Seriously, I’m weird like that. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Don’t ask me-it’s not _my_ door! 😃 On the other hand, if I had a limited amount of time to gather up a sufficient number of people to start up a new society elsewhere, I can’t think of a better way to find people that aren’t afraid to test the unknown, people that aren’t dead from the neck up and just coast through life avoiding all the tough decisions. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/95 "2008-07-10T17:51:34Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] Don’t ask me-it’s not _my_ door! 😃 On the other hand, if I had a limited amount of time to gather up a sufficient number of people to start up a new society elsewhere, I can’t think of a better way to find people that aren’t afraid to test the unknown, people that aren’t dead from the neck up and just coast through life avoiding all the tough decisions. [/QUOTE] _summons husband and kids to sign up for the Dope_ ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/96 "2008-07-10T19:18:16Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] On the other hand, if I had a limited amount of time to gather up a sufficient number of people to start up a new society elsewhere, I can’t think of a better way to find people that aren’t afraid to test the unknown, people that aren’t dead from the neck up and just coast through life avoiding all the tough decisions. [/QUOTE] Have you ever read the story, _What can you say about chocolate-covered manhole covers_, by Larry Niven? You wouldn’t happen to be robotic, would you? ---
**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 10, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504/97 "2008-07-10T19:25:20Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] Have you ever read the story, _What can you say about chocolate-covered manhole covers_, by Larry Niven? You wouldn’t happen to be robotic, would you? [/QUOTE] That was my inspiration for this question-good pull, there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-into/455504.md?page=4)