Fairy Vs Walrus - Tumblr Posts
Fairy reaction v Walrus reaction
I felt I needed to express the difference in art form.
The Impact of Walrus is just More.
The walrus vs fairy question is really funny when you live on an island Neil the seal frequents because everyone here I have asked so far says they’d be more surprised to find a fairy knocking on their door.
To be fair a giant elephant seal repeatedly showing up in peoples front yards is a bit different to a walrus knocking on your door but I mean. If a seal can, why can’t a walrus?
Just adding my Tasmanian perspective here for anyone who will happen to see it because seeing all this talk about walruses at the door reminded me of that time Neil crashed on the lawn in front of the beach public toilets and serval peoples houses. If you wanted to pee you had to sidestep the giant elephant seal…
The Walrus v Fairy question really is a perfect example of the Internet Argument. I've been reading a bunch of posts on both sides and it's very clear that everyone is interpreting the question in a way that the other side finds ridiculous. And if you take the read of one person, it makes perfect sense why they'd think it was more/less surprising, and the question become more about agreeing with priors than the actual question being asked. Like, a lot of people saying the walrus is more surprising make comments to the effect of "how did a walrus walk all the way to my house" or "how did the walrus knock on the door". And for folks that think the fairy is more surprising, there's a lot of comments saying they assume the walrus was put there by someone. The question doesn't mention how the walrus/fairy got there, so someone reading it as saying that the walrus knocked is answering a fundamentally different question than the one where someone assumes that a person knocked and then like, hid, or whatever. Likewise, a lot of people on both sides talk about the number of assumptions that each creature's presence brings up. People who think the walrus is more surprising comment a lot saying that a fairy being there is just one fact, that fairies exist, and that the walrus being there involves a huge logistical chain at the very least. Where people who think the fairy is more surprising comment a lot saying that the walrus being there is one fact, that elaborate prank shows exist, where the fairy being there calls into question a lot of biology, as well as the massive and world-spanning coverup that would be necessary to keep fairies out of the public eye if they've been around so long, that it brings up a bunch of existential issues if not logistical ones. People are even disagreeing about the definition of the word "surprising". I saw two posts side-by-side, one basically saying "a huge animal on your doorstep is shocking" and the other saying "fairies existing is way less likely than a walrus being dropped off at my door". Two totally different (and accurate!) definitions of the word, one emphasizing the initial reaction, surprising like a jump scare, the other emphasizing the overall likelihood of fairies versus Mr. Beast's Epic Walrus Prank.
It's just a wonderful thing to watch a hill to die on being raised right before my eyes, and to see a new Airplane Treadmill be born.
I live in a college dorm you can understand why this question is fundamentally different for me
Look.
I live in a 3rd floor apartment with no elevator. The stairs are too narrow to get a full-grown walrus up. I couldn't get a couch up them without disassembling it.
The choice isn't between "Magic is real" and something unusual but possible, like a walrus being in someone's front yard. The choice is between "Magic is real and someone wants to talk to me" and "Magic is real and someone used it to teleport a walrus to my door."
Look.
I live in a 3rd floor apartment with no elevator. The stairs are too narrow to get a full-grown walrus up. I couldn't get a couch up them without disassembling it.
The choice isn't between "Magic is real" and something unusual but possible, like a walrus being in someone's front yard. The choice is between "Magic is real and someone wants to talk to me" and "Magic is real and someone used it to teleport a walrus to my door."
truth is, underneath it all, a lot of our beliefs aren't rational, and they're formed young. all those stories of magical protagonists. secret worlds if you just had the key. creatures just out of view. all that shit we imagined doesn't go away because we got older. in a lot of ways it gets bigger, more elaborately built on.
i think we're hiding the emotionally devastating core of the walrus vs fairy debate under jokes.
you see a fairy on your doorstep? and you think finally.
I am callde Fae
And I cavort
With man and beaste
Of evry sorte
I play goode triks
Like pulling tales
And steeling coin
And ringin bells
But wen I want
To cos reel fuss
I do not goe
I send walruus
Re: What would be more confusing to find knocking at your door, The Walrus or The Fairy
The obvious answer is
dropped the walrus vs fairy question on a group of psychologists today and not only did the majority agree the walrus would be more surprising, the one with the strongest background in research responded to the ‘but fairies aren’t real’ argument with “are your beliefs so inflexible that you’ve never considered you might be wrong about what’s real and what’s not?” and honestly i haven’t recovered
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a slapping,
As of some one gently flapping, flapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some fairy,” I muttered, “slapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”
I would definitely be most suprised by this
Of course the obvious answer...
truth is, underneath it all, a lot of our beliefs aren't rational, and they're formed young. all those stories of magical protagonists. secret worlds if you just had the key. creatures just out of view. all that shit we imagined doesn't go away because we got older. in a lot of ways it gets bigger, more elaborately built on.
i think we're hiding the emotionally devastating core of the walrus vs fairy debate under jokes.
you see a fairy on your doorstep? and you think finally.
Was talking about the Fairy VS walrus poll with some friends which led to "but what about a walrus dressed as a fairy?" and so this was born 😌
What the fairy vs. walrus thing demonstration to me is that humans are a lot more willing to accept an impossible event over an improbable one.
You see, for an event you believe to be impossible to happen, you must be wrong about it's impossibility. It's not easy to accept that you are wrong about the fundamental nature of reality. But once you do, you suddenly find yourself in a world where it makes sense for the impossible event to occur.
When it comes to improbable events, however, Because our brains are bad at processing probability, we treat improbable events like impossible ones, with one key distinction. An improbable event occurring doesn't disprove it's improbability. There is no re-framing that makes a walrus at your door make sense. you're just stuck grappling with an improbable event
*Knock knock*
"Hmm, I wonder who that could be? A fairy? Or a walrus perhaps?"
*opens door*
"Life sized bottle of vanilla extract?!"
