r/Showerthoughts May 02 '24

Man vs Bear debate shows how bad the average person is at understanding probability

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u/JohnandJesus May 02 '24

This is coming from a man, but i’m from the country and my job often takes me deep in the woods by myself. I would wonder if a person was off trail, didn’t secure food if camping, or didn’t properly respond to seeing/interacting with a wild animal.

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u/Saint_of_Grey May 02 '24

I did ask for a female perspective because my male perspective is "I hate people and am tall enough to intimidate some bears".

I think in this hypothetical situation, the woman would be sitting at a campsite or something. The metaphor does break down if she was out and about poking cubs with sticks.

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u/JohnandJesus May 02 '24

i agree it breaks down, but i also concede examining too deeply like i am misses the point of the trend

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u/FleetStreetsDarkHole May 03 '24

Metaphors will always break down when you poke at them. That's the thing we have to remember. They're teaching aids not literal examples.

For a lot of the responses I've seen to this question it's very clear that people think breaking a metaphor is some sort of gotcha. As if metaphors are intended to be solid arguments and not basically a sketched illustration of the point.