A Topical Relativity Issue.

Helen and I occasionally used to have the following argument:

‘It’s cold,’ says Helen.

‘No, it isn’t. It’s quite mild today.’

‘Well, I feel cold.’

‘Ah, that’s different.’

‘No, it isn’t.’

‘Yes it is. You might feel cold for all sorts of reasons, but the ambient temperature is quite reasonable.’

‘As far as I’m concerned, it’s the same thing. When I say “it’s cold,” I mean “I feel cold.” Why do you have to be so pedantic?’

I didn’t think I was being pedantic. To me, ‘it’s cold’ is an objective statement that is only valid if it accords with the received parameters we set depending on such things as time of year and time of day. But now I come to think about it, the term ‘cold’ isn’t only relative to received perceptions, its very existence is subjective. It has no objective reality, as heat does. Cold doesn’t exist as such. It’s simply a term used to describe a relative lack of heat.

So maybe Helen had a point after all.

Am I boring you? I’m boring me.