Re: Hot, Cold, and Temperature

Philippe Caquant wrote:

> - but for other "objective" values, qualifying them by
> "+" or "-" seems to be a mere convention
> (temperature...) [common people don't think about the
> laws of physics and the movement of the atoms when
> saying "warm" or "cold"]
There are at least two categories of these pairs of opposites: some are
entirely arbitrary (left vs. right, north vs. south), but others are
unequal in one way or another (cold isn't just hot in the opposite
direction; it has entirely different effects; yellow is complementary to
blue, but we don't perceive it as just "anti-blue"). There isn't really
a clear-cut division between these categories -- east vs. west isn't as
arbitrary as north vs. south, since the sun rises in the east and sets
in the west; white and black are plainly opposites, even though it's
arbitrary which one is considered "positive" (white reflects more light,
black absorbs more light). Perhaps in a colder climate, where really
"warm" weather is unusual, "cold" might be considered as the positive
end of the scale; there'd be more need to talk about intensities of cold
than heat.

  > Just as a test, how many of us, reacting on a purely
> instinctive and immediate way, would think "-" when
> hearing the word "spider", and how many would think
> "+" when hearing "kitten" ?
I don't have any particularly negative reaction to spiders or the word
"spider". Spiders have some good qualities; they catch insects. Black
widows and brown recluses have a reputation for being dangerous, but
they're not the first thing that comes to mind if I hear the word "spider".

"Kitten" depends on whether you're thinking of cuteness (subjectively
positive) or age (negative, compared with full-grown cats). I think the
way the question was phrased, contrasting "kitten" with "spider", makes
you think of cuteness rather than age.

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