Philosophy Now Forum

Why are flies able to detect a gap in a slightly open window when they are on the outside of it, but not able to recognise the gap in a fully open one when they are on the inside? A fly inside your house will tend to be drawn towards a window, but if you open the window, the fly will invariably shun it.

There is something supernatural about flies. If you try to swat one with something -usually a rubber glove, in my case- the fly will instantly de-materealise and reconstitute itself on the far side of the room. It is similar to Captain Kirk beaming from the Enterprise down to the surface of a planet, except the fly does it a thousand times faster. Why on earth did nature equip the fly with this amazing skill only for it to spend its life dashing itself against closed windows, and ignoring open ones?

What is it with fucking flies?

Harbal wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:06 pmA fly inside your house will tend to be drawn towards a window, but if you open the window, the fly will invariably shun it...
What is it with fucking flies?

Well, it's a bit like vampires, but exactly opposite. They can only go through a door you don't invite them to use.

uwot wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:36 pm

Harbal wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:06 pmA fly inside your house will tend to be drawn towards a window, but if you open the window, the fly will invariably shun it...
What is it with fucking flies?

Well, it's a bit like vampires, but exactly opposite. They can only go through a door you don't invite them to use.

Yes, I can see that is just how a fly would think.

That's excellent, uwot, I wish I'd thought of it.

Harbal wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:06 pm What is it with fucking flies?

A few possible answers
1) there are a lot of flies and random roaming around will get some into your house (where they will make more flies who will seem to have gotten in. But getting out is a mystery to them. It's not like they flew towards a crack, said, hey look a crack, I'm not confused by that glass above it, that's the hole, and got in. They got lucky, as opposed to thousands of other flies. Once in...they have to get really lucky being only one fly.
2) They come in by smell at night. Their antenaes can smell. They follow the smell on the flowing air. In the daytime the apartment smells like sweat, food, good stuff that is. No great vectors of increasing scent. Glass they don't understand, bang, bang, bang, crawl around looking at freedom, crawl around.

Iwannaplato wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 9:07 pm
A few possible answers
1) there are a lot of flies and random roaming around will get some into your house (where they will make more flies who will seem to have gotten in. But getting out is a mystery to them. It's not like they flew towards a crack, said, hey look a crack, I'm not confused by that glass above it, that's the hole, and got in. They got lucky, as opposed to thousands of other flies. Once in...they have to get really lucky being only one fly.
2) They come in by smell at night. Their antenaes can smell. They follow the smell on the flowing air. In the daytime the apartment smells like sweat, food, good stuff that is. No great vectors of increasing scent. Glass they don't understand, bang, bang, bang, crawl around looking at freedom, crawl around.

What's your problem, plato? There's no law that says you've got to be rational just because you're on a philosophy forum, you know.

Harbal wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 9:15 pm What's your problem, plato? There's no law that says you've got to be rational just because you're on a philosophy forum, you know.

I find shame in the 21st century has gotten very complex.

Harbal wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:06 pm Why are flies able to detect a gap in a slightly open window when they are on the outside of it, but not able to recognise the gap in a fully open one when they are on the inside? A fly inside your house will tend to be drawn towards a window, but if you open the window, the fly will invariably shun it.

There is something supernatural about flies. If you try to swat one with something -usually a rubber glove, in my case- the fly will instantly de-materealise and reconstitute itself on the far side of the room. It is similar to Captain Kirk beaming from the Enterprise down to the surface of a planet, except the fly does it a thousand times faster. Why on earth did nature equip the fly with this amazing skill only for it to spend its life dashing itself against closed windows, and ignoring open ones?

What is it with fucking flies?

I think that is because they follow smell to get inside your house rahter than their vision.

bahman wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:52 pm
I think that is because they follow smell to get inside your house rahter than their vision.

Do you know of a smell that flies don't like?

Harbal wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:57 pm Do you know of a smell that flies don't like?

Um, well, cinnamon lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint and lemongrass essential oils.

But to offset accusations of rationality....

Trump is my father and Warren is my mother.

I love to exist before myself.

Let go of that God, that's my sock.

Do you cook a lot of meat? They especially love the smell of meat cooking.

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 11:12 pm Do you cook a lot of meat? They especially love the smell of meat cooking.

No, hardly any. I only get one in now and then, but they drive me mad when they refuse to go back out.

Harbal wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:50 pmThat's excellent, uwot, I wish I'd thought of it.

Thank you.

Harbal wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:50 pm

uwot wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:36 pm

Harbal wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:06 pmA fly inside your house will tend to be drawn towards a window, but if you open the window, the fly will invariably shun it...
What is it with fucking flies?

Well, it's a bit like vampires, but exactly opposite. They can only go through a door you don't invite them to use.

Yes, I can see that is just how a fly would think.

That's excellent, uwot, I wish I'd thought of it.

U have no idea what a fly is mate!

In Osstraaaalllliiiaaaa you have to surrender your steak sandwich or hand over one of your kids.

..and don't get me started on the cockroaches. This is a true story, I had heard that in QLD cockroaches can fly. Well, one morning I awoke and on the wall next to my bedside table was a bloooody huuuge cockroach. I layed there staring at the blighter for about a minute, thinking, do I get up and take this ****er on or just go back to sleep.
Well, I decided f**k him, I'm going back to sleep. But no, he had other ideas, he jumped off of the wall and flew...HE FLEW straight bang wallop into my big nose! ...and God rest his soul, I never saw him again.

That reminds me. PC keyboards - they sometimes get a right bashing from me. I swear the ones at my old workplace were unbreakable.
One drunken night I smashed my keyboard in my study so hard most of the keys flew all over the place.
Well, have a guess which key to this day I still have not found?

Harbal wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:06 pm Why are flies able to detect a gap in a slightly open window when they are on the outside of it, but not able to recognise the gap in a fully open one when they are on the inside? A fly inside your house will tend to be drawn towards a window, but if you open the window, the fly will invariably shun it.

There is something supernatural about flies. If you try to swat one with something -usually a rubber glove, in my case- the fly will instantly de-materealise and reconstitute itself on the far side of the room. It is similar to Captain Kirk beaming from the Enterprise down to the surface of a planet, except the fly does it a thousand times faster. Why on earth did nature equip the fly with this amazing skill only for it to spend its life dashing itself against closed windows, and ignoring open ones?

What is it with fucking flies?

Why did nature equip human beings with the ability to learn, understand, and reason absolutely any and every thing, but then keep them stuck behind the closed doors of assumptions and beliefs?

They were obviously all born absolutely open to absolutely any thing, but were given the ability to learn, understand, and reason absolutely any or every thing, which then provided them with the ability to choose to believe or assume some thing is true, which is what actually blocks and prevents them from learning and understanding more or anew.

So, why did nature allow this to occur?

Once you work this out and thus learn or gain and understand the answer, then this will better equip you to learn and KNOW WHY flies do what they do.

Understanding your OWN 'self' FIRST, better allows you to understand all other things as well.

Harbal wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 9:15 pm

Iwannaplato wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 9:07 pm
A few possible answers
1) there are a lot of flies and random roaming around will get some into your house (where they will make more flies who will seem to have gotten in. But getting out is a mystery to them. It's not like they flew towards a crack, said, hey look a crack, I'm not confused by that glass above it, that's the hole, and got in. They got lucky, as opposed to thousands of other flies. Once in...they have to get really lucky being only one fly.
2) They come in by smell at night. Their antenaes can smell. They follow the smell on the flowing air. In the daytime the apartment smells like sweat, food, good stuff that is. No great vectors of increasing scent. Glass they don't understand, bang, bang, bang, crawl around looking at freedom, crawl around.

What's your problem, plato? There's no law that says you've got to be rational just because you're on a philosophy forum, you know.

There is also no law that says that you have to take absolutely every thing as a joke or as ridicule just because you are on a philosophy forum either.

Now, the reason why flies get 'stuck' inside houses is because they exist only to annoy human beings.

Or, was your opening post questions just more rhetorical questions, which absolutely NO one was meant to answer and respond to as well?