The saying "a watched pot never boils" is obviously untrue, however, I realized that a watched pot will boil more slowly, all other things being equal.
Why is this? Your pupil appears black because very few photons are reflected out of the interior of your eye, especially compared to the iris and sclera. By watching a pot, you are allowing the maximum amount of photons from the pot into your pupil (compared to looking away). This, in turn, means that fewer photons are reflected back at the pot. Since the pot is not 100% reflective, it will absorb some of the photons which hit it and convert that energy to heat.
Therefore, a watched pot will receive slightly less energy, causing it to take an infinitesimally longer amount of time to boil.
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