I was on my way back from the shop, my daughter needed some stuff for exam revision.

I walked past this guy with a German Shepherd. A passer by was holding a VERY young toddlers face right next to the dogs jaws and allowing the dog to sniff the toddlers face. They were actually in contact.

Just as I was thinking what an utter moron he was was, he began to move the child away. At that precise moment the dog freaked out, growling snapping and barking. A sudden vicious transformation directed at the child.

This moron risked his daughters face and permanent disfigurement.

I just don't get how people can be so dumb. 

Simple answer, Martin!  The world has way too many morons in it!  Unfortunately morons beget more morons! 🤔  Anybody up for a ride in a submersible to see the Titanic? 😳

It has been my experience that at least 50% of the population are either 1)just plain dumb, 2)reckless and/or irresponsible, 3)clueless, don't know or care what is going on, or 4)deadbeats and criminals.

Yes, it is depressing.  On the bright side, there is the other 40-50% that keep everything running, though even that is a high percentage.  I had a supervisor who told me once about the 20-80 rule - 20% of the people do 80% of the work.  I didn't believe him at the time, but as I get older I'm discovering that he wasn't far from the truth.

Dave

2 hours ago, charliearon said:

Simple answer, Martin!  The world has way too many morons in it!  Unfortunately morons beget more morons! 🤔  Anybody up for a ride in a submersible to see the Titanic? 😳

 

I don't have an issue with  a submersible adventure as long as the said submersible is well designed and safe. 

1 hour ago, dave2013 said:

It has been my experience that at least 50% of the population are either 1)just plain dumb, 2)reckless and/or irresponsible, 3)clueless, don't know or care what is going on, or 4)deadbeats and criminals.

Yes, it is depressing.  On the bright side, there is the other 40-50% that keep everything running, though even that is a high percentage.  I had a supervisor who told me once about the 20-80 rule - 20% of the people do 80% of the work.  I didn't believe him at the time, but as I get older I'm discovering that he wasn't far from the truth.

Dave

I think this is part of the reason why the world is so polarized.  Or at least in the West anyway.  In my opinion, it isn't about dumb, reckless, irresponsible, clueless, deadbeats or criminals.  As we saw with the mess with the pandemic, each and every one of us has a different tolerance for risk.  We are each capable of assessing that on our own.  We don't need a government, or the 40 or 50% it sounds like you consider yourself a part of, to tell us what level of risk we can accept or not.  So to automatically cast "the others" in this way is not really the right way to view it, in my opinion.  Some prefer to live their life as close to inside a safe bubble as possible and never take any risk, never leave their homes.  Others would rather launch themselves into space or deep underwater.  It's not dumb.  It's just what each person is willing to accept when it comes to risk.  Just because someone will get in what essentially was a water heater from Home Depot and dive 14,000 down in the ocean or whatever it was doesn't make them stupid.  They were just people who were willing to accept that risk.

46 minutes ago, klamal said:

I think this is part of the reason why the world is so polarized.  Or at least in the West anyway.  In my opinion, it isn't about dumb, reckless, irresponsible, clueless, deadbeats or criminals.  As we saw with the mess with the pandemic, each and every one of us has a different tolerance for risk.  We are each capable of assessing that on our own.  We don't need a government, or the 40 or 50% it sounds like you consider yourself a part of, to tell us what level of risk we can accept or not.  So to automatically cast "the others" in this way is not really the right way to view it, in my opinion.  Some prefer to live their life as close to inside a safe bubble as possible and never take any risk, never leave their homes.  Others would rather launch themselves into space or deep underwater.  It's not dumb.  It's just what each person is willing to accept when it comes to risk.  Just because someone will get in what essentially was a water heater from Home Depot and dive 14,000 down in the ocean or whatever it was doesn't make them stupid.  They were just people who were willing to accept that risk.

1.  A lot of/most people are very bad at assessing their personal risk. But even so…

2.  As long as it doesn’t effect anyone else, I have zero issue with people doing whatever dumb stuff they want, but that is rare.

3.  Lowering yourself down to the titanic in a water heater is stupid, and doing it makes them stupid,  Of course there is no issue for anyone else unless point 2 is violated, and that’s where it gets complicated.  The world is sometimes benefited by people doing stupid stuff, but not always, and not often.

1 hour ago, klamal said:

In my opinion, it isn't about dumb, reckless, irresponsible, clueless

 

It was today when the child was a split second away from having her face ripped off. And guess what? Her dad, as he leapt back with his daughter away from the savage jaws, looked at the dog in shock, like it was some kind of weird, unexcepted freak of nature. it was like he had no idea a canine could behave like that. 🙄

4 minutes ago, martin-w said:

 

It was today when the child was a split second away from having her face ripped off. And guess what? Her dad, as he leapt back with his daughter away from the savage jaws, looked at the dog in shock, like it was some kind of weird, unexcepted freak of nature. it was like he had no idea a canine could behave like that. 🙄

Now, if that dog had chewed on the kid's face, the owner, if found, would be sued to high blue heaven! 💲

I've see so many articles about the dumb things like the grandfather dangling his grand-kid over a cruise ship railing and dropping him.  Or dangling them over the guardrail at the Grand Canyon just for a picture.

16 minutes ago, charliearon said:

Now, if that dog had chewed on the kid's face, the owner, if found, would be sued to high blue heaven! 💲

 

You bet.

The owner had the dog on a lead, and was allowing the doggie snogging. Guess what? The owner laughed when the dog went freaky. I suspect he was trying to play it down, like, its no problem, he was just barking, he wouldn't have taken your child's head off. 

Now I must admit, I am known for what my daughter calls my "safety book" and I do indeed have a heightened sense of what is dangerous and what isn't. And living in Guernsey where "health and safety" isn't what it is in the UK, and scaffolding poles are swung around in close proximity to shoppers, and you often see joggers running along the sea wall so they don't have to run in the road, with a 30 foot drop onto the beach or rocks below, or young ladies at the rather picturesque Fermain Bay sitting on the very low wall with, I'm guessing, a 40 foot drop to the beach, then you can imagine, my metaphorical safety book does have many entries. But I don't think I'm overreacting to Mr. Doggy and his pediatric face ripping urges. 

Edited June 23, 20232 yr by martin-w

1 hour ago, klamal said:

In my opinion, it isn't about dumb, reckless, irresponsible, clueless, deadbeats or criminals.  As we saw with the mess with the pandemic, each and every one of us has a different tolerance for risk.  We are each capable of assessing that on our own.  We don't need a government, or the 40 or 50% it sounds like you consider yourself a part of, to tell us what level of risk we can accept or not.

My comment was not related to the pandemic or the recent submersible tragedy.  It is a general comment on humanity, at least my observation of it over several decades. 

The problem is that some of the 50+% have positions of power and authority, and with such power can do and have done a lot of damage to a lot of people.

Alas, the world has always been this way.  The best you can do to minimize the negative impacts of the 50+% is to always be skeptical and trust few, educate yourself, and try your best to stay away from places governed by people who are part of the 50% I described. 

Dave

 

There have been some awful dog attacks. Fortunately they are rare enough to make the news reports. But thats little comfort to a victim, and family.. 

There are some stupid people for sure, but there is some poor legislation, or lack of in this example. Some big dogs are not much less dangerous than big cats to a child, anyway. And yet still no licence requirements.  

Just looked up and saw that there is some legislation surrounding pitbull dogs. So thats something.

Edited June 23, 20232 yr by icewater5
Grammar edit.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/syria-migrants-boat-sinking-titanic-submersive-missing-rcna90336

The contrast between the resources devoted to saving 5 vs 500.

I often watch people doing crazy stuff like this and I cannot help wondering how they manage to cram so much stupid into a single brain.

So much damage can result from a very simple lack of forethought. 

Unfortunately, it is usually, not the perpetrators who suffer and the almost inevitable litigation that follows, simply becomes a reward for this sort of stupidity.

Regards to all

Tony

 

As a 25 year letter carrier I've been bitten three times by "don't worry he won't bite" . People need to have a healthy respect for dogs for what they are, animals, and although they can display human-like emotions, they can also be unpredictable as hell. 

Charles Darwin was a pretty smart guy...