Why would anyone drown if swimming was that easy? It’s like riding a bike: trivial and instinctive for those who know, but dangerous and complicated for those who don’t.
Because its physically demanding. Im sorry but swimming is easy. And again, i feel like I have to reiterate: when I say swimming I mean “keeping your head above water and moving in a direction of your choice”. Dogs know how to do it! Not talking long distance or fast or for a long period, I’m just talking “not immediately sinking when you hit water”.
Others have taken the time to explain that that’s not what they mean when they say they cannot swim. I assumed “I cannot swim” meant “I cannot swim” and not “I cannot swim very well”. I guess its just one of those quirks of language.
Most people don’t drown in water by the way, they freeze to death.
That’s like saying “whistling is easy, just put your lips together and blow.” Though it is easy, that’s only if you already know how to move your body in the right ways. Some people can intuit the motions without guidance but I’m telling you that it’s far from everyone.
Also unlike whistling or biking, if you mess up swimming you die. Even in a shallow pool.
No it is not at all like that. It is like saying “climbing is easy, just go up” or “jumping is easy, just go up”. If you saw someone jump once, you’d probably be able to kinda do it. If you wanted to climb a tree, but you’d never climbed before, you’d probably figure out a way. There is not one specific way to do it, there is not innate knowledge of how to breathe or move that you need to obtain, it is not determined by the shape of your internal breathing apparatus.
I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall. I’m not talking moving fast or for a long distance. I’m talking about giving yourself forward momentum while keeping your head over water. Children do it instinctively!
You can swim in shallow water, “not swimming” doesn’t equal sudden death.
I don’t know why you keep insisting that children know how to swim instinctively. No they don’t. In the US, drowning is the leading cause of death for kids age 1-4 and the #2 leading cause for kids age 5-14 (#1 is car crashes). I don’t know what else to say so I’ll just leave it at that.
“keep insisting”? It’s the first time I’ve written it.
And again I AM NOT SAYING SWIMMING FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME.
But instead of linking to stats of drowning, which does not answer my question, but instead leads out onto another tangent of discussing how many of those drownings were from people who swam, got tired and drowned, hiw many were from peoples body experiencing cold shock and thus drowning and how many were from immediately sinking which is what you are implying, you could have linked me to this https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130814100212.htm or something akin to it, which DOES approach an answer to my question. What I was hoping for was people being able to explain their own experiences to add to this kind of thing, so I could get a less academic understanding, but I guess instead we have to discuss semantics and “how long do you have to swim for it to count” instead.
I’m happy I learned my assumption of instinctuality was wrong, but I still don’t get how adults cannot swim, which is what I’ve been trying to understand. I’ve seen plenty of children work it out on their own, I worked it out on my own. Just like we work out how to climb on our own. Which is why I explained the whole climbing thing. Instead we’re in a discussion of “no it’s actually more like whistling no it’s actually more like eating ass not it’s” what the fuck?
Oh fair, that is the first time you mentioned kids specifically. You’ve said/implied that it was simple and natural in every comment though so it was that attitude that I wanted to address.
If you want anecdotal evidence then here’s this: I cannot swim and neither can anyone in my family. I don’t mean we can’t swim long distances or that we can’t swim skillfully, I mean that we cannot swim or float whatsoever. I nearly died one time when we visited the community pools because I didn’t expect the slide to plunge me downwards into the water. I got out by aimlessly flailing forward and getting lucky. And no that wasn’t really swimming, it was more like walking on the floor while holding my breath as best I could. Also the lifeguard didn’t notice.
At the pools, we always stay in the shallow areas that’s waist deep. And the few times we’ve gone to the beach, we don’t go further into the water than to get our feet wet. There are no other opportunities for us to swim here and even those 2 cost money. I hope you understand why it’s unlikely for people in our situation to learn how to swim. Like, why take time out of my schedule to pay for something that I can’t do, that my friends and family can’t do, and that can potentially kill me?
For the record I brought up whistling because it’s a skill that many people don’t have. I’ve been able to whistle since I could speak and so could my parents, but it would be stupid for me to conclude that whistling is an innate human skill that all people know how to do. Likewise, some people just can’t figure out swimming by themselves. The proper movement of their bodies does not come naturally and that’s that.
I’m not gonna read all that. I got to “if you want anecdotal evidence” and I knew you for some reason still don’t get it.
I’m not asking for evidence. I’m not trying to debate wether or not people can’t swim. I get that they cant, I understand that. I feel like I’ve said that in so many ways now. I’m not trying to trash on it either. I feel like I keep repeating myself. I’m just asking “hey what’s up with people not being able to swim?” Not as a joke or derision or anything, just as an honest question because I can’t relate and I’d like to. I’d like to understand how a person who can walk and talk and read and write and think and do normal physical stuff, cannot keep their head above water and give themselves forward momentum.
I understand that they exist, I’m not some sort of swimming truther. I really do not understand how this is such a hard question to grasp, I feel like I’ve made myself incredibly clear. I’m not asking “why do people get tired from swimming?” I’m not asking “why can’t people do crawl for 600 meters?” I’m asking about the very basic act of swimming and when I asked initially I thought it was implicit it was about adults. I don’t know why I brought children or dogs into it, I guess I just got frustrated because it seems like you keep making this into a discussion of something I’m not trying or wanting to discuss. I’m not trying to debate anything, I’m not in doubt about how physical activity can be tiring, I’m not asking about why people don’t know how to swim Butterfly style, I’m not asking for evidence in some strange debate. I don’t get how I could have made myself any clearer.
Why would anyone drown if swimming was that easy? It’s like riding a bike: trivial and instinctive for those who know, but dangerous and complicated for those who don’t.
Because its physically demanding. Im sorry but swimming is easy. And again, i feel like I have to reiterate: when I say swimming I mean “keeping your head above water and moving in a direction of your choice”. Dogs know how to do it! Not talking long distance or fast or for a long period, I’m just talking “not immediately sinking when you hit water”.
Others have taken the time to explain that that’s not what they mean when they say they cannot swim. I assumed “I cannot swim” meant “I cannot swim” and not “I cannot swim very well”. I guess its just one of those quirks of language.
Most people don’t drown in water by the way, they freeze to death.
That’s like saying “whistling is easy, just put your lips together and blow.” Though it is easy, that’s only if you already know how to move your body in the right ways. Some people can intuit the motions without guidance but I’m telling you that it’s far from everyone.
Also unlike whistling or biking, if you mess up swimming you die. Even in a shallow pool.
No it is not at all like that. It is like saying “climbing is easy, just go up” or “jumping is easy, just go up”. If you saw someone jump once, you’d probably be able to kinda do it. If you wanted to climb a tree, but you’d never climbed before, you’d probably figure out a way. There is not one specific way to do it, there is not innate knowledge of how to breathe or move that you need to obtain, it is not determined by the shape of your internal breathing apparatus.
I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall. I’m not talking moving fast or for a long distance. I’m talking about giving yourself forward momentum while keeping your head over water. Children do it instinctively!
You can swim in shallow water, “not swimming” doesn’t equal sudden death.
I don’t know why you keep insisting that children know how to swim instinctively. No they don’t. In the US, drowning is the leading cause of death for kids age 1-4 and the #2 leading cause for kids age 5-14 (#1 is car crashes). I don’t know what else to say so I’ll just leave it at that.
“keep insisting”? It’s the first time I’ve written it.
And again I AM NOT SAYING SWIMMING FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME.
But instead of linking to stats of drowning, which does not answer my question, but instead leads out onto another tangent of discussing how many of those drownings were from people who swam, got tired and drowned, hiw many were from peoples body experiencing cold shock and thus drowning and how many were from immediately sinking which is what you are implying, you could have linked me to this https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130814100212.htm or something akin to it, which DOES approach an answer to my question. What I was hoping for was people being able to explain their own experiences to add to this kind of thing, so I could get a less academic understanding, but I guess instead we have to discuss semantics and “how long do you have to swim for it to count” instead.
I’m happy I learned my assumption of instinctuality was wrong, but I still don’t get how adults cannot swim, which is what I’ve been trying to understand. I’ve seen plenty of children work it out on their own, I worked it out on my own. Just like we work out how to climb on our own. Which is why I explained the whole climbing thing. Instead we’re in a discussion of “no it’s actually more like whistling no it’s actually more like eating ass not it’s” what the fuck?
Oh fair, that is the first time you mentioned kids specifically. You’ve said/implied that it was simple and natural in every comment though so it was that attitude that I wanted to address.
If you want anecdotal evidence then here’s this: I cannot swim and neither can anyone in my family. I don’t mean we can’t swim long distances or that we can’t swim skillfully, I mean that we cannot swim or float whatsoever. I nearly died one time when we visited the community pools because I didn’t expect the slide to plunge me downwards into the water. I got out by aimlessly flailing forward and getting lucky. And no that wasn’t really swimming, it was more like walking on the floor while holding my breath as best I could. Also the lifeguard didn’t notice.
At the pools, we always stay in the shallow areas that’s waist deep. And the few times we’ve gone to the beach, we don’t go further into the water than to get our feet wet. There are no other opportunities for us to swim here and even those 2 cost money. I hope you understand why it’s unlikely for people in our situation to learn how to swim. Like, why take time out of my schedule to pay for something that I can’t do, that my friends and family can’t do, and that can potentially kill me?
For the record I brought up whistling because it’s a skill that many people don’t have. I’ve been able to whistle since I could speak and so could my parents, but it would be stupid for me to conclude that whistling is an innate human skill that all people know how to do. Likewise, some people just can’t figure out swimming by themselves. The proper movement of their bodies does not come naturally and that’s that.
I’m not gonna read all that. I got to “if you want anecdotal evidence” and I knew you for some reason still don’t get it.
I’m not asking for evidence. I’m not trying to debate wether or not people can’t swim. I get that they cant, I understand that. I feel like I’ve said that in so many ways now. I’m not trying to trash on it either. I feel like I keep repeating myself. I’m just asking “hey what’s up with people not being able to swim?” Not as a joke or derision or anything, just as an honest question because I can’t relate and I’d like to. I’d like to understand how a person who can walk and talk and read and write and think and do normal physical stuff, cannot keep their head above water and give themselves forward momentum.
I understand that they exist, I’m not some sort of swimming truther. I really do not understand how this is such a hard question to grasp, I feel like I’ve made myself incredibly clear. I’m not asking “why do people get tired from swimming?” I’m not asking “why can’t people do crawl for 600 meters?” I’m asking about the very basic act of swimming and when I asked initially I thought it was implicit it was about adults. I don’t know why I brought children or dogs into it, I guess I just got frustrated because it seems like you keep making this into a discussion of something I’m not trying or wanting to discuss. I’m not trying to debate anything, I’m not in doubt about how physical activity can be tiring, I’m not asking about why people don’t know how to swim Butterfly style, I’m not asking for evidence in some strange debate. I don’t get how I could have made myself any clearer.