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Ask HN: Does thirst in any way prove the existence of water*?
*water being a place holder for any liquid that could quench thirst.
- sp332 13y agoIt's a proof that it will eventually exist, because someone who wants it will invent it :)
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- ttctciyf 13y ago"Proof" is strong word here, given that thirst is a subjective phenomenon and hard to pin down. But, at least along with the assumption that a large body of related knowledge to do with physiology, evolution and psychology, not to mention common sense, is broadly correct, actor reports of thirst seem at the very least to provide strongly indicative evidence for the existence of water. Since the existence of water is not anyway in doubt, one wonders what the point of the question is. One analogous assertion sometimes made is that the craving for religious experience proves the existence of the divine, but I think this is a far shakier proposition, more like saying "thirst proves the existence of cherry cola."
- shawndumas 13y agoSo you're in the desert desperately thirsty; you're fairly certain that you see water in the distance. That doesn't mean you'll get water -- you may die before getting there, it's a mirage -- but it's gotta mean that water exists for why else the driving, maddening, desire to drink? Not talking about achieving, just talking about existing... remove all religious overtones (or undertones); just on a purely practical level -- if there was no such thing as water would you ever get thirsty?
- ttctciyf 13y agoI don't think we disagree that thirst presents strong grounds for belief in the existence of water, if we assume received knowledge about physiology, etc.
- maxerickson 13y agoI think you would first have to come up with some sort of concrete way of proving a lack of delusion. A delusional motivation doesn't have anything to say about reality. It also apparently happens that people that are reasonably hydrated still think they are thirsty. Another issue would be separating thirst from 'desire for unicorns'. Or whatever more reasonable example someone can come up with.
- shawndumas 13y agoYes, I agree, being deluded that you are gonna get your thirst quenched and whether or not something that can quench thirst actually exists are two separate issues. Also, no matter how motivated you are to eat sand as a means of quenching thirst it'll avail nothing; on that we can both agree. The second point is a missed placed / misinterpreted thirsting (your body needs something that it associates with drinking; electrolytes, sodium, etc) or an unfortunate inability of the body to process water. But that would seem to strengthen the necessity of water and not diminish it. In the former the powerfully felt desire to drink is so prominent that we confuse other desires for it, and the latter because the body will not stop desiring until satiated. And the third seems to me to be just another way of saying that the desire is real but misplaced. But really, I find it incredibly interesting that the conversation keeps wanting to be pulled into a discussion of aberrations of thirsting. Would you say that just because a minescule portion of the population has thirsting abnormalities of various kinds really invalidates the overwhelming majority of genuine thirsting?
- maxerickson 13y agoIf desires aren't consistently genuine, then they aren't useful as proof of anything, at least for the stronger meanings of proof (simply because any given momentary desire might be nonsense, which can't prove anything).
- shawndumas 13y agoDo you mean prove in the: > vulgar > scientific > logic > maths Cause it seems to me they way I am using it and the way you are using it are different. The first two are never provable in the sense of the second two.