This past weekend, an Extreme Sports legend and another young man died in Yosemite while BASE jumping off a high peak. You may have heard of the incident. I won't attempt to define BASE jumping other than to say that it is extremely dangerous and very likely to end badly.
The one young man, in the past, had had an endorsement from a energy bar company that later withdrew their support because it didn't want to be associated with the insane risks that he was taking. People are saying that, of course, they're sad, but not really surprised that it ended this way.
As I was absorbing the news, trying to understand the significance, just wondering in general about what it means, if anything, my wife said, "What concerns me is that there are millions of people in the world struggling to stay alive."
That is an interesting take on the situation and other than the fact that my wife is very special and profound, what does that lead to?
I don't believe that these boys were suicidal, but they willingly risked and wasted lives that others would cherish. Why do some risk death for seemingly pointless reasons while others cling desperately to life.
Don't know.
You?
Don
> I don't believe that these boys were suicidal, but they willingly risked and wasted lives that others would cherish. Why do some risk death for seemingly pointless reasons while others cling desperately to life.
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> Don't know.
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> You?
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> Don
I'm pretty sure adrenaline junkies have been around as long as we have been walking on two feet. And I'm probably going to fall short of judging them. In my mind they were doing what they liked and really didn't endanger other humans. I didn't say I agreed with it, just won't pass judgment on them.
I use to have a friend that was addicted to drag motorcycles. Insane machines that ran on nitro-methane and could go a quarter mile in eight seconds. Driving one involved hanging on for dear life and hoping it was pointed straight. His spirit left this earth at about 180 miles an hour.
Why tempt the grim reaper with such a precious gift as life?
I don't know either, Don. Your wife has some insight.
Dean Potter. He was legendary in climbing circles. Life is a gift and some will see it to spend as they see fit. The man gave everything to what he loved. I don't love anything that much. I guess some people cling to life in other ways.
> I don't believe that these boys were suicidal, but they willingly risked and wasted lives that others would cherish. Why do some risk death for seemingly pointless reasons while others cling desperately to life.
I'd say that "The Little Prince" pretty well lays out the psychology of these puer types who imagine themselves to be removed from the ordinary laws of the physical world.
East Texas gives the middle finger salute to West Texas:
> I'd say that "The Little Prince" pretty well lays out the psychology of these puer types who imagine themselves to be removed from the ordinary laws of the physical world.
>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-Exup%C3%A9rybr >
I'd also say that it is axiomatic that if you want to fully understand a person, you need to consider their spouse.
We are all different. It takes all kinds. Some cling, and have their own individual reasons, others release, and have their own reasons too.
I've been reading..
(yeah, I know, scary...)
Interestingly, the under 25 age group in Western civilizations is the only age group that mortality has actually continued to increase since about 1960. Accidental deaths are glaringly the contributing factor. Comparing this to a significant drop in infant mortality and longer average life spans in the same study group has the bean-counting medical community confounded.
One opinion that seemed plausible was a developmental need for excitement (I haven't been on a roller coaster since I was about 25) and an almost ritualistic need for young adults to "prove" themselves in some fearsome and admirable manner. Something, by the way, that is not unique to Western culture. History is full of records of tribal rituals that literally "thinned" the numbers of breeding males to those that were either lucky or skilled.
Most (by average) young adults experience their definition of "pushing the envelope" and then reside on their laurels for the rest of their natural life-span. A few continue the practice in an almost addictive manner, needing larger and larger thrills to attain their satisfactory high.
One study attempted to link this to a genetic trait. So pulling crazing stunts like jumping off a 1000' cliff without a parachute may be some primordial and amoebic instinct to keep our breed pure with only the bravest (?!) of males surviving and reproducing. One merely has to consider Darwin's The Origin of Species to understand that if there was indeed an "adrenaline junkie gene" it had probably already taken care of itself generations ago...:pinch:
Other than riding motorcycles; I myself keep my "inner warrior" in check with nothing more than occasionally running with scissors, making yellow lights (that are a little pink around the edges) and possibly eating packaged food that is a day or two past its prime.
Pretty tame, but it works for me. B-)
I've been reading..
I pick up and eat food dropped on the floor after it has been there four seconds.
I think an occasional coliform bacteria is a good wake-up for my immune system.
Forest Gump summed it up quite well.
And, we all know what he said about stupid.
Forest Gump summed it up quite well.
Yes, kinda reminds me of the Llama incident. 😉
I've been reading..
Do a Youtube search of "Saudi drift crash" and you'll see plenty of "purfication".
Forest Gump summed it up quite well.
The truth hurts! But, he turned into a nice chunk of bills that I am enjoying spending.
I've been reading..
I heard somewhere that humans, especially males, typically become cognizant of their mortality at around age 25...
There are definitely different philosophies behind high risk endeavors.
Up into my early teens I did mildly dangerous stuff. When it came to heights I was chicken. I forced myself past that at 17 when I enlisted. Over the next 25 years I pushed myself to conquer that fear. Starting with Hueys then on to cliffs and buildings I made myself scale, rappel and jump until it became second nature. Had anyone asked me to put on a suit and fly like these fellows did I'm not sure what the answer would have been. Probably yes but I'll never know.
The '25 year old self-preservation' thing never kicked in for me. My days of 'extreme sports' ended when the spare parts started adding up. I found that one-handed pull-ups don't work so well after the second or third rebuild on your fingers. 3 level fusion in my neck with more certainly to come has made me a fairly calm person with more normal (and mundane) pastimes.
I don't spend much time 'wishing I had'. Occasionally I find myself 'wishing I hadn't', but that usually fades when the scars heal up and the new parts are broken in. Finding the balance on that is something you only get one shot at. I was feeling pretty good about where I was at until I saw that suit. Maybe if I lost a few pounds and got one more tune-up...
I've been reading..
I lived in Riyadh in the late 70's, early 80's. You've never seen such a bunch of completely reckless and insane driving in your life. Watched as a couple of Bedouins playing chicken in their Toyota pickups collide head on with both going flat out and then drive past the bits and pieces scattered over a couple hundred yards. Remember it like yesterday and that was forty years ago. You don't stop to help someone when they're in a hundred pieces. I became congnizant of my mortality at a very early age.
Drivers in other countries
I talked with a fellow that was in the military and stationed in either Greece or Sicily (I can't remember) in the early '70s. He related the fact that when local drivers approached a 4 way stop at night it was common practice to turn off your headlights prior to entering the intersection and then run the stop sign...(wtf?!!) Apparently the results were painfully predictable. The military strongly suggested no driving after dark.
He said all the blind corners were full of crucifixes and floral memorials...and the general population carried on with the tradition as if there we no consequences.
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> I don't believe that these boys were suicidal, but they willingly risked and wasted lives that others would cherish. Why do some risk death for seemingly pointless reasons while others cling desperately to life.
>
> Don't know.
>
> You?
>
> Don
Nothing prepared me for going into my first house on fire after I joined a fire department several years ago. There is no finer rush than knowing the house WILL fall down if you don't put it out.
I can totally see how people would BASE jump. It's just not my thing. Give me a high stress situation where the clock is ticking and I'm happy as a pig in crap though. 🙂
> I don't believe that these boys were suicidal, but they willingly risked and wasted lives that others would cherish. Why do some risk death for seemingly pointless reasons while others cling desperately to life.
>
> Don't know.
>
> You?
>
> Don
Absolutely NOTHING is certain.
Dr. Ben Buckner explains it in axiom No. 6:
> Absolute certainty is impossible in the real world. Certainty is delusion, whereas uncertainty is reality. Remember the bell curve? The standard deviation, occurring at the points of inflexion, is the 68.3 percent level of certainty. To gain more certainty, we must widen the range of error. To have 100 percent certainty in anything measured, the range of error or the tolerance must be infinitely large. Statistical analysis and this curve teach us this. From the above, we realize that 100 percent certainty is not possible in the real world where human judgment or perception is involved. This is true regarding both measurement science and personal decisions. The truly open-minded person is uncertain. This is a conclusion we must reach after considering the above. As we ponder all of this, we begin to realize that certainty inevitably leads to rigidity and closed-mindedness, where new evidence is difficult to consider or accept, with consequent unwillingness to modify perceptions to further approach truth. Indeed, a fool is one who ignores facts, is not open to evidence or new knowledge, has his mind "made up," makes decisions with insufficient information or simply leans on his limited understanding. Well-balanced people seem to know instinctively that they do not have the luxury of an infinitely large tolerance and so have some reservations or doubt about any decision. It is healthy to have self confidence when judgments are well considered, but some measure of caution and doubt is healthy too. I can proceed in a matter as an act of faith, but faith, by definition, is not susceptible to such analysis. I remember that when I was a young Army lieutenant in training, the training officer would ask (right in my face) "Are you sure, Lieutenant?" I was trained to reply "Yes, Sir!" I was lying, of course. But I couldn't answer, "I am 99 percent sure." It wouldn't have been acceptable, and it would have been at least 90 percent certain that I would be doing push-ups had I replied with anything other than an absolute "Yes, Sir!" We have been conditioned to expect the "Yes, Sirs" from our peers, our political leaders, our children, our spouses, our employees and so forth. The certification on your survey plat is a statement of 100 percent certainty. The law will use it against you later, declaring, "You said it was so." Somehow, we have had it all wrong. We make a serious mistake when we expect certainty from ourselves or others. We should begin admitting uncertainty. It is more honest. This may go contrary to the way we are taught by parents, employers, politicians and peers. Nonetheless, it is true because we operate within finite dimensions. Living with uncertainty may frighten some people. However, when the alternatives and the consequences of closed-mindedness and rigidity are considered, uncertainty becomes therapeutic. It is the route to better solutions and improved personal and other relationships, so it is bound to ultimately make a person feel better than always being certain.
Some might say; Well, death is a certainty; I mean; how many confirmed cases are there of some one living forever? While someone else would say; Well, what about everlasting life; that Jesus promised?
The first guy might even say; Well, what about man's free will? I mean that guy didn't NEED to jump off that cliff, it was obviously his free choice to do so. When the second guy would probably say; Well, everything is predestine: from the trill seeker to the child born into war ravaged Syria, everything was meant to be God's will....
I hope this doesn't sound like a religious post; it wasn't meant to be...
Dougie
