The Frog Blog

Some dude shared the frog story at a meeting this week.  You know the one - if you slowly turn up the heat on a frog sitting in a pan of water it will just sit there until it gets boiled to death.

Is this story an allegory?  Or a parable?  Or a fable?  Or total bullshit?  Answer at the end of the blog.

I understand the point the dude was trying to make with the boiling frog story: that the damage alcohol does to the alcoholic is slow and cumulative so we often don't try to get the train stopped until it's awfully, awfully late.

Allegory:  A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden one, typically a moral or political one.

Parable:  A short, simple story that teaches or explains an idea, especially a moral or religious one.

Analogy:  A comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification.

Total: Complete; absolute.

Bullshit:  Nonsense, lies, or exaggeration; foolish, insincere, exaggerated, or boastful talk.

So here's the deal.  Frogs have been around for at least 200 million years.  Some experts believe that they have been walking the earth for 250 million years.  Humans have been around for maybe 300 thousand years so I'm putting my money on the frogs.  Yeah, like you get to hang in there for 200 million years by allowing yourself to slowly boil to death.  I don't think so.  Humans are more likely to get boiled to death.  I see no evidence that we're smart enough to last another million years.

Genus Frogs!

From the Toltec Today Gazette:  "The freedom we are looking for is the freedom to be ourselves, to express ourselves.  But  if we look at our lives we will see that most of the time we do things just to please others, just to be accepted by others, rather than living our lives to please ourselves."

I initially thought this sounded a little selfish but I believe the point is that trying to live in a way that others want you to live isn't going to be very satisfying in the long run.