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Friday 18 November 2016

All steamed up

Yesterday we moved the electric kettle to another area of the kitchen. Yes I know this adventure is almost too nail-biting for a blog post but there is more to come.

We moved into the house seven years ago, plonked the kettle in an apparently obvious position and there it and its successor stayed for the next seven years even though it tends to waft steam all over the cupboard above. Not a serious problem but yesterday we had the bright idea of moving the kettle to a spot where a steamed cupboard can’t occur.*

Now we skip lightly from poorly positioned kettles to the big wide world where good enough is often not very good at all but we drop into ruts and let things ride because... Because?

Because we compare.

Our ability to reason is essentially an ability to compare A with B and possibly with C and D but not much more than that. Too many options and we get confused. We don’t actually know if A is good or bad but maybe we can tell if it is better than B, C or D.

If we favour political party A over party B, we can’t tell if A is competent or incompetent. All we can do is compare it with B or perhaps the previous history of A, but even here there is an issue. If we favour party A over party B then we compare A with B using comparisons promoted by A. We can’t tell if these comparisons are valid or invalid because we just do it – we compare until we have an answer which is okay, which removes the incentive to compare. 

In spite of the huge leap from kettles to politics, we see the same issue. If we are not prompted to do a comparison then we don’t do it. We don’t generally compare comparing with not comparing or comparing one way with comparing another. We just do it or we don’t. If we get an answer which seems okay then we move on and stop comparing.


* This was prompted by a slight but discernible warping of the cupboard hem hem.

7 comments:

Sam Vega said...

Those people who have balanced their death-trap kettle on a crowded shelf above the cooker: they're Corbyn supporters.

Scrobs. said...

You can sleep on it (not the kettle, the comparison), and the answer will come along around 4:30 am, and keep you awake until dawn...

Demetrius said...

Many of our politicians seem warped which is why a lot of people let off steam. Must go, time for a cup of tea.

wiggiatlarge said...

I am fascinated to know if your kettle is the original and has been steaming happily for seven years, as I am lucky to get two years from any of mine regardless of price, as steam starts erupting from other areas or the darn thing stops working or blows up !

James Higham said...

Moved the electric kettle - I'm in total shock.

Anonymous said...

Mrs Windsor seems to have the same sort of problem.

Our kitchen has the kettle-curled and toaster-curled bits well stuck down with epoxy glue applied with a cocktail stick. A bit of parcel tape holds down the curly bit till the glue sets.

A K Haart said...

Sam - they also refuse to recycle their pizza boxes. Claim there are too many.

Scrobs - I had one of those last night. The whole human condition described in a few pithy sentences. Where it went to I've no idea.

Demetrius - too much hot air warps the backbone.

Wiggia - I think it's the third. All much the same as you've found.

James - we live life to the full. It's a new brand of fig biscuits next.

Roger - what about replacements when they inevitably fail?