One that comes to mind for me: “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is not always true. Maybe even only half the time! Are there any phrases you tend to hear and shake your head at?

  • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Well yeah, but that’s why I dislike the quote. It doesn’t say what it means. Every example of what it intends to convey kinda falls back to the spruce vs pine thing to the uneducated eye. It doesn’t matter if I understand how the alien antigravity socks work -if they’re tech, they’re tech. Hell, I don’t understand how the cell phone I’m posting from works. It could literally be filled with tiny wizards who are actively casting a spell to send my thoughts to Lemmy - I dunno, and I can’t verify. I’m reasonably confident that’s not the case: despite all the functions this device is capable of that do indeed feel magical, that doesn’t make it magical.

    • JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      The quote doesn’t say it is magic though, actually. It just says, that from our perspective, it’s indistinguishable from magic.

        • netvor@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          from our perspective is implied in every sentence ever.

          And no, you can’t expect phrases to “say what they mean”----that would just require them to include more phrases, etc…

    • netvor@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      It doesn’t matter if I understand how the alien antigravity socks work -if they’re tech, they’re tech.

      • If you are a reasonable person (and not dreaming or insane), you can tell them apart quite easily: if it’s actually there, it’s tech.
      • If you are a superstitious person (or dreaming or insane), you can tell them apart quite easily: if it’s actually there, it’s magic.

      See? That’s what I like about the quote. It points to the fact that the difference is in the eye of the beholder.