Boiling Frog Myth

Discussions centered on debunking the 'boiling frog' analogy, with commenters repeatedly linking to Wikipedia to note that frogs actually jump out of gradually heating water contrary to the popular myth.

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Keywords

WHY en.m en.wik sciencedaily.com i.e OUT JUMP WILL wikipedia.org frog boiling jump slowly water premise false mammals gradually temperature

Sample Comments

rossdavidh Apr 12, 2022 View on HN

If the analogy is apt, then they are doomed to fail at this:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog"...according to modern biologists the premise is false: a frog that is gradually heated will jump out. Changing location is a natural thermoregulation strategy for frogs and other ectotherms, and is necessary for survival in the wild."i.e. the sun tries to graduall

cge Mar 25, 2018 View on HN

If you put a frog in cold water and gradually heat the water, the frog will jump out (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog). The premise of that analogy is widely considered to be completely false.

TazeTSchnitzel Dec 23, 2016 View on HN

I think it's a case of boiling a frog: if you increase the temperature slowly, they don't notice and jump out. Or so the proverb goes.

latexr Nov 28, 2025 View on HN

From the second paragraph in your link:> While some 19th-century experiments suggested that the underlying premise is true if the heating is sufficiently gradual, 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.

001sky Nov 4, 2013 View on HN

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog

PUSH_AX Oct 30, 2023 View on HN

WHY on earth would a frog get boiled if you slowly increased the temperature?

DrScump Jan 18, 2018 View on HN

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog

hahamaster May 3, 2023 View on HN

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog

deafpolygon Feb 12, 2023 View on HN

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog

mbesto Feb 24, 2022 View on HN

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog