A discussion in the covid thread got me thinking about this.
Generally, if there's a bonehead thing that you can do to hurt yourself or others, it gets legislated to be illegal, regardless of whether it's strongly enforced or not. For example, you're not allowed to drive drunk or not have balcony rails or climb power poles.
But there are some things that I think are dangerous, but they're not illegal. For example, you can legally hurtle yourself off a cliff into the ocean for recreation, which seems dangerous to me. That one guy a while back jumped out of a plane without a parachute, which was apparently not illegal at all.
There are some things that are dangerous, but they're an occupation. You can launch yourself into space on a rocket and that's fine as long as you get launch permits. Or you can go be a fuel truck driver in Iraq. Apparently a lot of risky stuff is legal if it supports the economy. Or maybe it's just not risky to the extent that the risk outweighs the rewards.
It's not illegal to stick a fork in your breaker box, or at least I don't think it is. So there's another category that's pretty much rampant stupidity, and that's mostly legal because apparently our society doesn't mind a little Darwinism. And if you make it illegal to stick forks in breaker boxes, it's probably not going to stop the people who do it.
Stuff like skydiving seems dangerous and it's legal, but statistically it's not very dangerous.
So I'm not sure how to ask the question other than to just ask it. What's the most dangerous thing that you do that's not illegal? And do you do it because you have to do so to earn a living, or is it something recreational, or is it something where you're just a knucklehead? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
There's probably some subjectivity, but I think it's also a more clear line. There's planning involved to not hurt yourself or others, and it's happening ahead of time and in a clear-headed manner. That doesn't mean that it's not high risk, but it's managed risk.
I'm sure we could find some gray areas, but I think the gray areas will be more constrained than defining "dangerous".
Some dangers pay well too. Maybe that's a criteria? Is it more excepting if one makes a lot of money doing it?
We applaud people like Evel Knievel but make fun of people in fail videos all the time (or at least I do) haha [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
Oh, that's an interesting point. Maybe society disapproves of recklessness as opposed to disapproving of danger.
I really like that as a judging criteria. You may have nailed it.
I think so too. Danger is a challenge to be overcome through hard work and preparation to push human limits or accomplish some important goal. The guys sitting on steel girders eating lunch a hundred years ago was certainly dangerous. Reckless has different intentions and motivations and generally a sense of removal of preparation and forethought. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lprechaun:
Some dangers pay well too. Maybe that's a criteria? Is it more excepting if one makes a lot of money doing it?
We applaud people like Evel Knievel but make fun of people in fail videos all the time (or at least I do) haha
He was definitely reckless or wreckful if you prefer. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
We see those videos of Russian people standing on high towers and ledges, and I think the act itself is not illegal. It's usually trespassing, but that's a different crime. I don't think they'd get arrested for "illegal precipice standing", or would they? Maybe it's also not illegal because society's not really concerned about the 100 people nationwide who do that sort of thing.
Oh, and I guess it's not all that different than that guy who free-climbed up that cliff face in Yosemite. That guy did something dangerous and he was a hero for 12 minutes. So what's the difference? Is it because he did something to stretch the boundaries of human accomplishments?
In the states, most of the crazy shit would be reckless endagerment, because you could hurt someone else (presumably hitting their body with yours). Illegal.
Probably work logging or fishing with no experience. [Reply]
I've kayaked the Rio Grand 'Race Way' not the smartest thing I've ever done but it sure was fun and death defying. I knew I was in trouble when I hit my head on a boulder and my kayak got hung up in the rocks with the hull filling with water and me hanging onto the kayak with feet dangling. I knew I was in trouble when I hit my head on a boulder and I was hanging onto my kayak that was held up by the rocks and water gushing in I just had to let go and I became a human pin ball down the river I went. I finally got to the side of the river and climbed out of the rivine and onto a windy road with trucks zipping by. I walked another 3 miles along the road that if I stayed on the inside of the rail I could get squashed by a car/truck but if I walked on the outside it be a narrow and rocky sandy cactussy path along the cliffs where I could tumble back into the Rio Grand that was not nice to me from the start.
I also have a hazardous job working in a state mental hospital psych ward that all I got to defend myself is my wits and CPI training and hope somebody is there to help or security gets there. There is no shortage of crazy, but there is entertainment value with some patients better than True TV. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
In the states, most of the crazy shit would be reckless endagerment, because you could hurt someone else (presumably hitting their body with yours). Illegal.
Probably work logging or fishing with no experience.
Hmm, good point. That complicates the analysis a bit if we essentially have a law that says, "Don't be a dumb***." [Reply]