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IS FIRE HOT OR COLD


needle ninja

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Yea, it has been one of those days.

Anyway this is about points of view - what it is can make everything different, or at least seem different.

One day there was a frog on a rock. Is the frog at rest or about to jump?

If you are a human observer watching from the shore you might say the frog was at rest.

The reality of the frog might be totally different, however. To an insect flying over the pond, the frog would be seen as poised to lunge forward in one sudden and terrible motion, potentially ending the insect's existance. Perhaps a casual observer would not even see the frog, the meer fact that you, a human with human vision and human thoughts saw the frog at all says something about you. For example, you are one of the few who would see the small detail nessecary to spot the shape of the frog agaist the background. There is a reason that frogs are hard to spot. So, you are somewhat of a naturalist, perhaps someone with experience looking for frogs. Your experience will always color your view. Your memories are an indelable fact of your existance and they will be there with you as you look out over the surface of the pond and spot the frog. You are also more likely to assign your present condition to the condition of the frog. If you are at rest, you will see the frog as at rest as well.

 

So is fire hot or cold?

 

depends

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I wouldn't bring the viewpoint with which an individual sees the world into connection with the question whether fire is hot or cold. It is justified to use the term "fire is hot" because It will be perceived as hot by most humans and animals. The frog, however, won't.

Just a question of viewpoint. Well, maybe, but not with something as basic as fire I would say.

Sure you can say fire is cold and thus you will be one of only some very few people who say that ... it's your point of view and you're free to have that. The only question is whether you'll find so many people / individuals to interconnect to who share the same point of view, so it's basically just a question how fun it is for you to say that fire is cold.

 

But it's actually true that the viewpoint matters and not so much the circumstances. I would second that.

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philosophy sucks... or does it? hey, i'm just asking questions... but it's a fine line it seems to me =_=

 

 

and don't get me wrong here, i love me some thinking. maybe it's just amateur philosophers that get to me.

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I wouldn't bring the viewpoint with which an individual sees the world into connection with the question whether fire is hot or cold. It is justified to use the term "fire is hot" because It will be perceived as hot by most humans and animals. The frog, however, won't.

Just a question of viewpoint. Well, maybe, but not with something as basic as fire I would say.

Sure you can say fire is cold and thus you will be one of only some very few people who say that ... it's your point of view and you're free to have that. The only question is whether you'll find so many people / individuals to interconnect to who share the same point of view, so it's basically just a question how fun it is for you to say that fire is cold.

 

But it's actually true that the viewpoint matters and not so much the circumstances. I would second that.

 

Don't let fire get in your way.

The ability we have to think of things as constant is infinite. Fire is a moment in time and is usually thought of in relation to the absence of fire. ;)

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  • 8 years later...

Not only philosophers cold, lukewarm ... these are judgments made on a factual measurement in C, F, K...

the fire of your match is not hot enough to melt metal. your solar oven is too hot to light your cigarette.the fire in your chimney is too hot for human skin.

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this is not a question of philosophy, it's a question of chemistry. any fire is a reaction that gives off heat, so fire is clearly hot. no matter how you look at it, any materials on fire are hotter than the same materials (in the same circumstances but) in the absence of fire.

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