Once upon a time there was a group of people in a boat floating down a lazy river. Everyone in the boat boasted of being “a water lover.” The boat dwellers were a complacent crowd, and many of them had never actually been in the water, but this did not in the least cause them to question their unhesitating declarations of love for the water! Moreover, everyone on the boat assumed that they were excellent swimmers! Having been near water their whole lives, and having paid fierce lip service to “loving water”, they simply assumed that they were proficient at treading water and keeping themselves afloat.

Then one day the boat flipped over, and many of “the water lovers” discovered that they could not swim at all. They thrashed and fought with all their might, but many of them drowned. Others discovered that they could just manage to stay afloat, but they were displeased to find that they the water was cold and the whole experience disrupted their complacency; and they resolved to avoid water at all costs from then on. But others found the water exhilarating, and they went on to become surfers and members of the coast guard!