Puddle Thinking

Puddle Thinking is a satirical analogy coined by Douglas Adams to illustrate the folly of an egocentric view of science and nature. As quoted in [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins Richard Dawkins'] [http://www.edge.org/documents/adams_index.html Eulogy] for Douglas Adams:

. . . imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in, an interesting hole I find myself in, fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it's still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for.