subcosm

subcosm t1_j3h70gs wrote

I think a simple answer is that our senses measure change (or rather our brain experiences/notices change), and an expected change will naturally seem smaller.

Think of the classic scenario of throwing a frog into boiling water (it jumps out) vs dropping one into cold water and then slowly raising the temperature to a boil. The second frog is eventually boiled alive because the change in sensory input is gradual enough that the frog never notices.

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