#a small person with insect like wings dies not inherently mean magic exists!

[pantestudines]

No one should care but ive been thinking about it and my take is that the root of the walrus/fairy question is one specific word used by the original poll: "surprised". The question is not which would change your worldview or which is more/less possible to really happen. The question is which *surprises* you more. To me, this means which causes a stronger immediate surprise reaction in you upon opening that door. In essence, how bad do you flinch?

This, to me, is why so many people (including myself!) choose Walrus. A walrus is an immediate situation! That's an animal larger and stronger than you are, one that I would say is potentially very dangerous, that many people have never seen in real life. And now it's your responsibility and on your doorstep! A walrus on a doorstep is a novel idea, at least to me. I don't think I've ever had an animal just appear at my door, and certainly never knock. Sure, after the gut reaction dies down, the mundanity of the situation is certain; a walrus is a real animal and the perpetrator is likely nearby, laughing at the world's weirdest ding-dong ditch prank. But for a few seconds, it's just you, your expectations upon opening a door, and a pinniped of unusual size.

Now let's examine the fairy; The term can be vague, but I think most people imagine a generally humanoid but very small creature with insect wings. First off, by being small, the fairy will likely not trigger a defensive response, unlike the walrus. This thing is not an immediate threat, at least to your subconcious. Also, by being humanoid, usually with a very human face and features, this changes the situation from "strange beast on my doorstep" to "strange person on my doorstep". Obviously this may be different from person to person, but I think "strange small person on my doorstep" would illicite much weaker response from my flight or fight reflex than a large, strange animal. This is nothing to say about the familiarity most people have with fantasy and fantasy ideas, and the lack of familiarity most people have with walrus' in general, but I think those are also factors.

#also? by seeing a fairy you have certainly NOT proved anything about the universe and how it works #this could be a weird puppet. an illusion or projection of some sort. a weird bug that you mistook for a fairy. #even if the fairy holds up to scrutiny it could be a here to unknown form of fully mundane life #like an alien or some weird human mimicking insect or some other thing you (and science) just simply arent aware of yet #a small person with insect like wings dies not inherently mean magic exists! #now if the fairy starts casting spells sure #but has the fairy who politely knocked on your door and is waiting for you to open it actually done anything supernatural? #anyways. i actually really enjoy this question and think the discussion around it is enjoyable and the question itself was perfectly framed #like for example if you used 'bear' instead of walrus? MANY people are suddenly able to rationalize seeing one. dangerous or not. #and fairy is like. kindve perfect for 'hard to excuse mundanely' because it is both very human like but also very small #BUT it is not MADE OF MAGIC like a ghost or elemental or something #it strikes a fine line between 'magic is inherently real now' and 'this is just a horse with a cone taped on its head' #both of which would be situations that i think ruin the conditions of the question