People this stupid...

Quote:

Originally posted by NEStromo:
What if the jumper had actually accomplished what he was trying to do without injury, became famous, and inadvertantly spawned a new generation of extreme stunt-folk that would re-invent live-action movie and television special effects?

Would he still be an idiot?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Absolutely. A trained stunt man doing a leap for a movie is one thing. A teenaged kid, or any untrained average joe trying to jump the gap between two 80 ft high buildings with no safety net, ropes, or other safety precautions is an idiot. Just like people who try to beat trains, or climb into the lion cage at a zoo, or do any other number of moronic things that could kill or badly injure them.

You mean like driving a car or smoking?

Quote:

Originally posted by NEStromo:
You mean like driving a car or smoking?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">big difference between driving a car, smoking, and leaping off a building. if you drive a car, you do so carefully (or so I'd hope). You generally can't drive a car without getting a license, though I'm sure some people do. Most people were taught how to drive by either a driving school, a teacher at their high school, or a parent.

there are risks everywhere in life, yes. people know them. I know I risk getting into an accident every time I get into my car..but I don't willfully do something that I know will almost certainly result in me getting injured. I don't go out and try to duplicate stunts I've seen in movies when I'm on my way to work. People who do take stupid risks while driving usually end up getting into accidents. I've only been in one, and that one was not caused by me.

and smoking, well, I don't support smoking. but perhaps that's just because my mother had cancer and also now has a fatal lung disease..not caused by smoking, but my sister is a chain smoker and I know it kills our mother to see her do it. Besides, if you get lung cancer from smoking, you can't go out and sue and win because of your own bad choice. People could back when they didn't know the risks, but anyone of a recent generation can't get money out of it anymore.

there's also the fact that driving, for some, is necessary. there is no public transportation where I live. If I couldn't drive, I wouldn't be able to work, and wouldn't be able to do things like go out to get groceries, or leave my house at all.

smoking and jumping buildings is not necessary, and certainly does not help one survive..especially as both are usually detrimental to survival.