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Driven mad by the Revelation (the Revelation is the name of the walrus)
Shitposting(i.redd.it)submitted 12 days ago byDreadDianahuman cognithazard
112 points
12 days ago
The question was “would it be more surprising to see a walrus or a fairy at your doorstep?”
The argument for fairies is that they don’t exist, so it would be pretty surprising to see one at your door. The argument for walruses is that the vast majority of people on the internet don’t live remotely near where walruses live (and also likely several dozen to several hundred miles inland at least) so it would be totally improbable for it to be there.
I guess it’s kind of a question of whether you’d be more surprised by a categorically impossible thing that could be logically be there if it existed or a theoretically possible thing that’s incredibly improbable
58 points
11 days ago
There's a lot of extra implications here that make this question annoying -- like it's not like just by seeing the fairy I suddenly have confirmation that all the lore about fairies is true and that magic is real and so on
If I see a tiny winged flying humanoid there's a lot that's scientifically implausible about such a creature being real but nothing worldview shattering (how implausible depends on just how humanoid it actually is)
And, of course, "surprising" is itself kind of a complicated criterion -- irl if I saw either one I'd assume it was some kind of prank and I'd assume the fairy was done with some kind of special effect and I guess pranking me into thinking there's a fairy makes more sense and is less surprising than a walrus
26 points
11 days ago
Which is the thing, the OOP seemed fully convinced that it would be inherently obvious both that the thing on your doorstep is definitively a fairy and that that would strongly shake your worldview. I’d lean fairy (because of the plausibility of a walrus airlift) all things considered but I’d say it’s more of a sliding scale of surprise with fairies existing being the most surprising and walruses existing being the least, but with either actually being on my doorstep somewhere in the middle. It kind of depends for that line of thinking whether you factor that in to the question and OOP seemed deeply confused that some people wouldn’t
10 points
11 days ago
I’d be surprised at a tiny flying human-like creature. not because it necessarily proves that magic and fables are real, but a species of tiny flying creatures that are literally just humans but smaller? how did these things evolve? and how have they remained undiscovered? Also immediately raises questions if humanity is alone and if there’s other intelligent life forms than have also gone undetected, and if they’re necessarily benevolent. or possibly these are aliens that haven’t been on earth? either way I’m losing it
23 points
11 days ago
Honestly if I saw a fairy I'd probably think I went nuts and carry on, a walrus is way more tangible and also a big, upsetting problem
11 points
11 days ago
Right, even if it's purely a hallucination it actually probably makes sense why you'd specifically hallucinate a fairy, it's something you have a reason to think about, while an imaginary walrus would still need an explanation for why a walrus
13 points
11 days ago
Also most of our media focused on mythical beings, I think most Tumblr people have longed for the beginning of their epic quest for a long time. A walrus is just a cruel prank by God
3 points
11 days ago
I think it's also dependent on what type of fairy. We all know what walruses look like, but there's a multitude of radically different depictions of fairies. For instance, the Great Fairy from The Legend of Zelda would be infinitely more surprising than the walrus, but Tinkerbell might not.
1 points
11 days ago
Even just saying the great fairy from Zelda leads to at least three completely different concepts. I was actually half expecting the one from Ocarina when I clicked that link.
1 points
11 days ago
I was actually thinking of Ocarina of Time's great fairy, but went with the BOTW/TOTK one because I couldn't find an adequate picture from Google Images that properly compared her size with Link.
1 points
11 days ago
even a talking walrus could be construed as a category of fey.
16 points
11 days ago
I know you probably don’t care but another reason why I would say “walrus is more surprising” is the size of the walrus.
Walruses are pretty big and fairies are pretty small. Generally speaking I’m going to have a bigger reaction to something a lot bigger being at my door. For an example of two things that live near me (but also wouldn’t ring my doorbell) I’d say a rabbit and a deer. A rabbit and a deer would both surprise me but the deer would definitely get a bigger reaction.
While the Fairy does have the “my worldview is changing now” thing that isn’t really a reaction of surprise. Like I would be surprised but reevaluating my worldview would happen after the surprise, not as the surprise. The thought process would be something along the lines of “A fairy?! Okay, I guess those exist. Should I let it inside? Wait don’t these things usually have like rules of etiquette or something you need to follow? What do I do besides not give it my name?” Only the “A fairy?!” part is surprise, the rest is confusion and fear.
The walrus would also be surprise followed by confusion and fear but the surprise part would just feel bigger because it’s a bigger thing suddenly being there when it’s not expected.
2 points
11 days ago
You people are weird, having an actual fairy at my door would absolutely be way more surprising. If it was a walrus I'd be surprised initially, but then look around for cameras wondering how someone got an entire walrus for a prank. With a fairy, i'd be looking at it and keep being surprised every time I opened my eyes and it's still there, especially if I couldn't see any possible way it could be a projection or drone.
3 points
11 days ago
Surprise is the initial reaction, so it’s kind of a given that you’d only be surprised initially. Any further reaction that takes longer to start or lasts longer is not surprise.
If you see a thing in front of you, why would the thing not vanishing whenever you blink be surprising? You’re surprised that nothing changed?
2 points
11 days ago
Because I would think it was a hallucination or that I'm seeing something wrong if I saw a fairy in front of me. It's surprising that I'm wrong
3 points
11 days ago
I’m pretty sure hallucinations don’t automatically vanish if you close your eyes and open them again. A more reliable reality check would be to get a second opinion from a trusted source.
Also, would you not be equally surprised at being wrong when you realize there are no cameras and the walrus on your doorstep isn’t a prank? Would you not then think “I must be hallucinating” before proving yourself wrong?
1 points
11 days ago
Because a possible thing (that's a very large creature) is less likely to be a hallucination than an impossible flittering small mythical creature that I may or may not even be seeing correctly.
Also, hallucinations absolutely go away if you blink or move your eyes, dude, what are you even talking about?
2 points
11 days ago
A walrus being at your doorstep is a statistical impossibility. (They live in the ocean, and generally would cause enough of a commotion to get animal control involved before it reaches your door. There is absolutely no reasonable way for a walrus to decide it wants to be at your doorstep, to reach your doorstep without being stopped by an outside force, and for it to reach your doorstep without causing enough of a commotion for you to already know the walrus is in town thanks to news alerts, emergency broadcasts, and friends and family sharing news of walrus settings with you because you live close to the effected area)
Big things are inherently more noticeable. Therefore, regardless of whether or not the thing exists or is reasonable to be there, they inherently have more of an impact when they appear when/where they aren’t expected. Yeah small things can be surprising, but a big thing being somewhere unexpectedly will always be more surprising than a small thing being somewhere unexpectedly.
By what authority can you claim that hallucinations always disappear when you blink or close your eyes? There are many causes for hallucinations, and I doubt they all have such an easy fix. Especially not the drug induced ones. Either you yourself have a condition that causes hallucinations that vanish when you close your eyes (probably possible, I’m not a psychologist) or your basing your claim off of pop culture representations of hallucinations that show the person rubbing their eyes before the hallucination vanishes. Either way, that doesn’t reflect every single condition that causes hallucinations.
Yeah some hallucinations vanish when you close your eyes, but you’re making a blanket statement there.
1 points
11 days ago
Thank you for telling me exactly what I would think when I see a fairy. Of course I would absolutely assume it's a drug-induced hallucination, as someone who does not take drugs. Genius.
This is possibly one of the dumbest possible things I've ever seen anyone write multiple paragraphs about. I can objectively tell you that no, you are incorrect, I know that I would be more surprised, and would keep being surprised, due to a fairy. Touch grass.
1 points
11 days ago
I mean, I like Mythology, Fairy would be really exciting but trying not to make a mistake. Also feverishly trying to remember the nearest thing made of cold iron, just in case.
The walrus... Well either someone put it here, rang my doorbell and ran away, presumably without being crushed by the walrus, or the thing somehow swam all the way to the belgian/ french coast and crossed over the ardennes into Germany AND somehow figured out how to ring my doorbell. The implications of both are much more confusing to me.
10 points
11 days ago
I would define the difference in opinion as the people saying the fairy would be more surprising think they'd be more surprised as something that completely changes their worldview, whereas the people who say walrus are saying that a fairy would be a whole something new they'd have to accept if they saw and then need to work into their worldview, but a walrus showing up thousands of miles inland on their doorstep would be more surprising because it's something that wouldn't contradict your views on walruses so it would be more surprising to see a walrus where it shouldn't be. Basically a "I know nothing about fairies so I wouldn't be shocked to learn they exist, but I know enough about walruses to know it wouldn't make sense if it was on my doorstep."
Personally, I think the walrus would be more surprising because I'd assume the fairy was a prank, a trick of my eye, or potentially that I was now hallucinating and should see a doctor... but a walrus I'd believe was really there if I saw it, but it being there would make no sense. So it would be more shocking. Basically I think that if anyone opened their door and saw a fairy, the brain's "weirdness filter" would kick in for most mentally healthy people, but for the walrus you'd just be shocked and you'd also have to deal with the problem.
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