You are at a lake with some friends; the sun is warm and the water is cold. Going into the water would temporarily chill you but you know that later the warm sun would be even more enjoyable and you would be glad you had gone in. Would you take the plunge?

To quote a friend, “Life is more interesting when you jump.”

I agree with her. Life is more interesting when you jump… I mean, in this situation. Obviously it very quickly becomes less interesting if the jump is from the top of a tall building.

But I don’t know that I would jump in, personally. I’m not what you’d call a strong swimmer. And I never quite got the hang of that whole keeping-your-head-under-water-without-water-going-into-your-nose thing. So I would be mildly afraid of drowning. Now, if I could drop in whilst keeping a hand on the dock or something, sure… why not?

Then again… lake water can be kind of gross. Maybe it would depend on the lake.

What would you do? Jump? Not jump? Let me know in the comments!

*The Question of the Week can be found in The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock, Ph.D.