Slapping the fish

Tags: #blog #ideas

Last updated: 2026-07-26

Humans excel at a great many things, and one of those that does not get enough credit is our ability to take one stimulus and map it to another. For example, mapping the sound of water being poured into a glass with the "Thirst quenching-ness". 1 These are things that are learned over time, without any conscious intent or knowledge of their inner workings. Henceforth, this concept of non-conscious development of stimulus mapping abilities will be called slapping the fish.

Why "Slapping the Fish"?

This is a term I have been using for a number of years now. It is based on an article I read* about how fishers in Japan would butcher their fish. There needed to be a very precise cut along the spine, but the spine was unable to be located visually. So instead, they managed to develop a process of slapping the fish or dropping it from a short height to make the who thing shake. With enough practice, they were able to look at the patterns in the shaking, and make an exact cut where the spine was.

  • By "Article I read" I should really say "Article I remember reading". I am as yet unable to find the source I recall reading, nor a source that backs this information at all. The idea stands, but consider this a made up example rather than a fact. %%

Quickly I noticed that same idea in daily life.2

StimulusMapping
Bightness of window in morningLateness to work
Smoothness of engine noisesRisk of destitution
Stinkiness of waterChance of disease

What is Slapping the Fish?

As this may be a novel concept to some, I would like to lay out the most simple explanation of slapping the fish.

Slapping the fish IS:

  • A skill learned without realization or intent
  • A simple input stimulus, often of only one sense
  • A simple output concept, with no direct relation to input
  • The ability to experience said input and conceptualize the output without conscious thought

Slapping the fish IS NOT:

  • A skill practiced to the point it can be done non-consciously

Footnotes

  1. Agrawal T, Schachner A. Hearing water temperature: Characterizing the development of nuanced perception of sound sources. Dev Sci. 2023 May;26(3):e13321. doi: 10.1111/desc.13321. Epub 2022 Sep 23. PMID: 36068928. ↩

  2. All these are personal mappings I have experienced and believe others to have experienced as well. ↩