Even if they did, most people don’t really grok what that means. Most people’s mental models for reference frames are intertial and without transition, so the idea that they’re still travelling at the speed of the boat, say, when they hit the water, and not the speed of the water, doesn’t make intuitive sense to them.
They left the boat. To them, that means they’re no longer moving with the boat.
I’m not so sure about this. If we apply the same logic to cars, it’s immediately obvious that almost everyone understands this concept quite well – jumping out of a moving car is dangerous, precisely because you’ll be moving when you hit the ground.
I think they’re underestimating how quickly the boat is moving, and how quickly you’ll slow down when you hit the water.
People understand you’d get hurt jumping out of a moving car (even still, people sometimes try it) but often underestimate the amount of force a vehicle moving at various speeds can apply. Huge difference between 30 mph and 60 mph.
Even if they did, most people don’t really grok what that means. Most people’s mental models for reference frames are intertial and without transition, so the idea that they’re still travelling at the speed of the boat, say, when they hit the water, and not the speed of the water, doesn’t make intuitive sense to them.
They left the boat. To them, that means they’re no longer moving with the boat.
I’m not so sure about this. If we apply the same logic to cars, it’s immediately obvious that almost everyone understands this concept quite well – jumping out of a moving car is dangerous, precisely because you’ll be moving when you hit the ground.
I think they’re underestimating how quickly the boat is moving, and how quickly you’ll slow down when you hit the water.
People understand you’d get hurt jumping out of a moving car (even still, people sometimes try it) but often underestimate the amount of force a vehicle moving at various speeds can apply. Huge difference between 30 mph and 60 mph.