its an archaism. a modern understanding of animal behavior and ethics have both pushed that training modality out, and probably the more successful animal trainers of yore never really relied on it, but people absolutely used to beat the shit out of animals. perhaps not often, and perhaps not horribly, but animal cruelty was certainly common enough to enter the lexicon. see “carriage whip”. see “spurs”. see “bearing rein”. see “branding iron”. etc etc. hell theres even the phrase “spare the rod, spoil the child”.
and this is not the worst place a study of the history of language will take you. remember that european and white north american cultures both (among others) unabashedly practiced chattel slavery for centuries, if not millennia for older cultures.
You don’t hit the donkey with the stick silly! 😂🤣
You sit on the donkey and use the stick like a fishing pole. Dangle the carrot in front of the donkey’s face with a string, and the donkey will walk in whichever direction you guide it.
Pro tip: you can also ride a pig that way.
In Minecraft
While this is definitely a thing from cartoons, the carrot/stick thing is absolutely referring to hitting the donkey. The whole point is punishment vs reward…
Well, seeing as how I grew up on a horse ranch, I can totally confirm the ‘cartoon logic’ you speak of is absolutely real, and is used to help train at least some donkeys and horses.
It’s more like teasing them to go after something they can never have.
Yeah, again, I’m not saying that’s not a thing, man. Just that’s not what carrot vs stick metaphor is about
Can you provide me a couple older references to this? Preferably before the year 2000, or at least before the AI and enshittification era?
Here’s a wiki link for you
I asked for before the enshittification era.
I’m not about to trust a controversial article that could have been manipulated by almost anyone these days.
It’s pretty intuitive from the saying. It’s the carrot OR the stick, not the carrot ON the stick. The carrot is the reward for doing the thing, the stick is the punishment for not doing it. Just google it.
Read OP’s post again, it literally says “carrot and stick”.
I’m not about to nitpick or argue my life experience with someone that’s probably never rode a horse or donkey in their life, doesn’t know how to read, and goes to Google for all their information.
Dude no one’s arguing about your life experience, it’s just irrelevant. The carrot and stick metaphor isn’t even about donkeys or horses.
