Frogs don’t let themselves get boiled

Apparently, the oft-repeated ‘fact’ that a frog placed in a pot of slowly-warming water will eventually let itself be cooked is entirely false. A frog dropped straight into boiling water will probably be horribly injured before it can get out (if it ever manages to); one put into a slowly warming pot will leave when the water gets uncomfortable. So says Professor Doug Melton, of the Harvard University Biology Department, among others.

It is easy to understand why this ‘fact’ has become so commonly cited: it seems like a pat little bit of wisdom from the animal world. Its falsehood provides a more important lesson about verifying whether convenient seeming stories are actually correct, even when they seem useful for livening up your argument.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. Between 2005 and 2007 I completed an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. I worked for five years for the Canadian federal government, including completing the Accelerated Economist Training Program, and then completed a PhD in Political Science at the University of Toronto in 2023. View all posts by Milan