Yes, building mental connections between domains requires well-populated maps for both of them, plus significant extra processing. It’s more properly treated as a skill which needs development than a cognitive defect. In the pen-on-the-moon example, knowing that astronauts can walk around is not enough to infer that a pen will fall; you also have to know that gravity is multiplicative rather than a threshold effect. And it certainly doesn’t help that most peoples’ knowledge of non-Earth gravity comes entirely from television, where, since zero-gravity filming is impractical, the writers invariably come up with some sort of confusing phlebotinum (most commonly magnetic boots) to make them behave more like regular-gravity environments.
And it certainly doesn’t help that most peoples’ knowledge of non-Earth
gravity comes entirely from television, where, since zero-gravity
filming is impractical, the writers invariably come up with some sort
of confusing phlebotinum (most commonly magnetic boots) to make them
behave more like regular-gravity environments.
I think you’re on to something. I was wondering why the “heavy boots”
people singled out the boots. Why not say “heavy suits” or that the
astronauts themselves were heavier than pens. Didn’t 2001: A Space
Odyssey start the first zero-gravity scene with a floating pen and a
flight attendant walking up the wall?
Yes, building mental connections between domains requires well-populated maps for both of them, plus significant extra processing. It’s more properly treated as a skill which needs development than a cognitive defect. In the pen-on-the-moon example, knowing that astronauts can walk around is not enough to infer that a pen will fall; you also have to know that gravity is multiplicative rather than a threshold effect. And it certainly doesn’t help that most peoples’ knowledge of non-Earth gravity comes entirely from television, where, since zero-gravity filming is impractical, the writers invariably come up with some sort of confusing phlebotinum (most commonly magnetic boots) to make them behave more like regular-gravity environments.
I think you’re on to something. I was wondering why the “heavy boots” people singled out the boots. Why not say “heavy suits” or that the astronauts themselves were heavier than pens. Didn’t 2001: A Space Odyssey start the first zero-gravity scene with a floating pen and a flight attendant walking up the wall?