There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”
There are lots of effects you cannot explain without air. Even if you haven’t been to school, you can observe wind, use a hairdryer, blow up balloons, fly a drone etc.
And “air” as a word dates back to both Latin and Greek “aer”, probably from proto-Indo-European “awer” so it’s pretty much been the same word in European since civilization was a thing.
— David Foster Wallace, This is Water
That joke works until you realize we’re perfectly aware of the existence of air.
Yeah, but would you be aware if you hadn’t learned about it in school?
Oh wait. Fish spend lots of time in school. Dang.
I vaguely recall reading about people not knowing the science of wind and air. They explain trees swaying in the wind as spirits.
There are lots of effects you cannot explain without air. Even if you haven’t been to school, you can observe wind, use a hairdryer, blow up balloons, fly a drone etc.
And “air” as a word dates back to both Latin and Greek “aer”, probably from proto-Indo-European “awer” so it’s pretty much been the same word in European since civilization was a thing.
Oh yes, my favourite language. It’s “vzduch” or similar in most Slavic languages, and I’d bet you’re not pronouncing it right.
“Fish forget they live in water; people forget they live in the Tao” -Confucius?
What the hell is Tao?