4 ms·

I don't think this was dumb exactly, just naïve. I didn't know fireflies were real until my 20s. I thought they were just a made up thing in storybooks. I was

by smeej 2y ago

I don't think this was dumb exactly, just naïve. I didn't know fireflies were real until my 20s. I thought they were just a made up thing in storybooks. I was rooming with a girl I barely knew for the summer and was looking out the window while washing dishes. You know how fireflies tend to sync up? Suddenly I see hundreds of tiny yellow lights turn on and then off. On and then off. I yelled for her to come in (at least to my credit I was more fascinated than afraid!), and she ended up dumbfounded that I had never seen fireflies before!

throw46365 2y ago
This is not really dumb, or naïve. It's just not something you had any reason to encounter, and maybe you were off sick if it was mentioned in biology/science lessons. Now consider it this way: the first time you experienced fireflies, you were an adult, and you could bring a fully adult, science-aware, sense of wonder to that experience. I'd count it as a win.
- smeej 2y ago
  I was thinking "naïve" in the sense of "just not knowing some normal things about the world." It's definitely my, "WAIT--fireflies are REAL??" reaction that makes me laugh after the fact.
  - koala_man 2y ago
    A coworker similarly said "WAIT--reindeer are REAL??" I'm thankful I had maturity to simply say "yes, they're in the deer family, native to Canada and Northern Europe". They were from China where they probably rarely mention reindeer, and only in the context of Santa Claus. It's no different from a Westerner rarely hearing about tanukis, and only in the context of trickster spirits in anime and Super Mario Bros 3. How are you supposed to know they're real?
    - throw46365 2y ago
      > I'm thankful I had maturity to simply say "yes, they're in the deer family, native to Canada and Northern Europe". Good for you! Though I think we geeks are more inclined to understand when others have their "Sherlock Holmes didn't know the Earth revolves around the Sun" moments. :-)
johnchristopher 2y ago
Hey, you were one of the ten thousand that day https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/ten_thousand.png https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/ten_thousand.png !

by smeej 2y ago

throw46365 2y ago

This is not really dumb, or naïve. It's just not something you had any reason to encounter, and maybe you were off sick if it was mentioned in biology/science lessons. Now consider it this way: the first time you experienced fireflies, you were an adult, and you could bring a fully adult, science-aware, sense of wonder to that experience. I'd count it as a win.

smeej 2y ago
I was thinking "naïve" in the sense of "just not knowing some normal things about the world." It's definitely my, "WAIT--fireflies are REAL??" reaction that makes me laugh after the fact.
- koala_man 2y ago
  A coworker similarly said "WAIT--reindeer are REAL??" I'm thankful I had maturity to simply say "yes, they're in the deer family, native to Canada and Northern Europe". They were from China where they probably rarely mention reindeer, and only in the context of Santa Claus. It's no different from a Westerner rarely hearing about tanukis, and only in the context of trickster spirits in anime and Super Mario Bros 3. How are you supposed to know they're real?
  - throw46365 2y ago
    > I'm thankful I had maturity to simply say "yes, they're in the deer family, native to Canada and Northern Europe". Good for you! Though I think we geeks are more inclined to understand when others have their "Sherlock Holmes didn't know the Earth revolves around the Sun" moments. :-)

johnchristopher 2y ago

Hey, you were one of the ten thousand that day https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/ten_thousand.png https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/ten_thousand.png !