eli5 Why do cold things feel wet
In: 5
It’s actually wet things that feel cold. Our skin doesn’t actually register wetness, it registers the difference in temperature.
Cold things feel wet because when you feel something cold, your brain draws the conclusion that it is cold because it is wet. This is basically an illusion. Your brain will do this when it doesn’t have any other clues as to what is going on.
When you touch a cold rock, you can see the rock is dry. It doesn’t feel wet, because you know better. Also, wet rocks are more slippery, so this is even more information to help your brain decide.
A dog’s nose is shiny and cold, so when you touch it, your brain tells you it’s wet, something like shiny + cold = wet. Wrong conclusion again! However, I do think it’s true most shiny cold things are wet. So it’s a fair generalization, it’s just not always true.
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