It’s an interesting law…
After spending a quarter of the year at our cabin on Bob Lake, near Minden, Ontario, I’m finally home again.
We typically avoid going there in May or June because the insects are relentless. In May, it’s the nasty blackflies, and by June, the mosquitoes and deer flies are in full bloom—not to mention the huge, filthy, horseflies, whose bites often get infected.
By July, the little monsters start thinning out, and by the end of August, they’re mostly gone. We hunker down until mid-October, then lock up and head back to Toronto.
By October, it starts to get pretty cold in the Great White North, and I have to bundle up for my seven-mile power walks, wearing a small bear bell to keep our ursine friends at bay.
Our 600-square-foot cabin isn’t insulated and has a high ceiling, so staying warm is a bit of a challenge. We fight back with a propane fireplace and a few portable electric heaters.
It’s always nice to get back to our home with a furnace, which feels like a luxury after our pioneer lifestyle on the lake. Except this time… When we got home yesterday, our house was in the low 50s (Fahrenheit), and once we unpacked the Subaru, we flipped the switch.
The Canadian-made natural gas furnace roared into action… and then died completely.
We had an emergency visit from an HVAC technician, but he couldn’t fix it, so we’re waiting to hear from the head office this week. Luckily, we have a gas fireplace in our sunroom, which makes that room nice and warm. There’s also a built-in 240-volt electric fireplace down in the rec room, so I was able to resume my Dark Shadows marathon, which went on pause back in July.
But the house is still cold. Very cold in fact. But here’s what I find interesting…
Normally, being without our primary heat source would have me cursing and freezing, doing everything I could to stay warm, including stuffing my cat Gwaihir under the blankets like a living hot water bottle. But despite having no central heating and no idea when or if it will be fixed, it’s not bothering us at all.
The reason? A psychological principle known as the Law of Comparison. It seems that our brains are constantly making comparative judgments about things that happen simultaneously, or close together in time.
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For example, baseball players often swing two bats before stepping up to the plate. The idea is that after swinging two, one bat feels fast and light—classic Law of Comparison.
Another example: An attractive person can seem dull and average-looking when seated next to a supermodel or movie star. Even if you see them a few minutes apart, the super-attractive person still flattens the other’s perceived appearance.
So when we came back to our Toronto home, it wasn’t as cold as our cabin had been that morning, and we quickly adapted to the low temperature, even though it would’ve felt terribly cold in the past. It’s as though the cold snap in Minden made us more resilient, so the temperature in the house, while annoying, didn’t actually feel too bad.
The Law of Comparison can play out in lots of ways:
- A mediocre speaker giving a keynote will seem amazing if she follows a boring, self-indulgent presenter.
- A $500 jacket seems expensive by itself, but next to a $2,000 designer jacket, it feels like a bargain.
- A medium-sized meal might seem huge if you’ve been eating small portions, but disappointingly small if served after seeing a family-sized platter.
- A standard hotel room feels luxurious after a week of camping, but ordinary compared to a suite in a five-star resort.
- The Law of Comparison is always happening, and if you recognize it, you can find ways to make it work for you. For example, a professional speaker may tell a client that their normal rate is ten grand, but then quote half off, which makes that five grand feel like a steal for the buyer.
And a cold house feels comfortable after a really cold cabin.
Start looking for the Law of Comparison—you’ll see it in advertising, relationships, products, and a ton of other places too.
- Mike Mandel
