I’m firmly on the side of “water is not wet” in this debate, but it’s a question that I was asked while I was high and have no answer to it. Water cannot itself be wet because you can’t get water on water. However, what is a fish in a lake? It can’t be wet until it’s taken out of the water, but it’s not dry either. Is it something else?

  • deepthot@lemmy.sdf.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    1 year ago

    So, just to understand your position - is a soaked sponge not wet?

    I think a fish in water is still wet (i.e. in contact with some amount of water) but that’s superseded by the fact that it’s immersed in water, and thus not a very meaningful attribute.

    • rockSlayer@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      I’ve never seen a sponge sink on its own, so in some sense they will always either wet or dry when not in use. If something holds a sponge under water, it becomes immersed and gains this mysterious new property