The boiling frog is an apologue describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to or be aware of sinister threats that arise gradually rather than suddenly.
While some 19th-century experiments suggested that the underlying premise is true if the heating is sufficiently gradual,[2][3] according to modern biologists the premise is false: changing location is a natural thermoregulation strategy for frogs and other ectotherms, and is necessary for survival in the wild. A frog that is gradually heated will jump out. Furthermore, a frog placed into already boiling water will die immediately, not jump out.[4][5]
- ^ Lee, James (2 May 2010). "Escape". Flickr. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ^ Offerman, Theo (February 12, 2010). "How to subsidize contributions to public goods" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2016. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
- ^ Sedgwick 1888, p. 399
- ^ "Next Time, What Say We Boil a Consultant". Fast Company Issue 01. October 1995. Retrieved 2017-08-01.
- ^ Gibbons, Whit (December 23, 2007). "The Legend of the Boiling Frog is Just a Legend". Ecoviews. Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2021.