Darwin proved right once again... - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

G-Benz · #16 06-03-2003, 01:36 PM

The point isn't whether or not we did or did not do stupid stunts as adolescents...

..it's whether or not we emulated what we saw someone else do on TV, regardless of the warnings!

So yeah, I'm sure there were a few kids that mimiced "Evel Knievel" stunts and sustained serious injury...back then, media saturation wasn't what it is today.

Remember the guys who got killed trying to do the initiation stunt from "The Program?" The college football movie where the players are lined up and laid down end-to-end on a busy street...it was a matter of time before someone would try that one!

I admit I probably had many "Darwinian" brushes as a lad! My Mom caught me on the roof of our house once, just before I was attempting to parachute down with a bedsheet! :p

You know those "Professional driver. do not attempt!" disclaimers you see on commercials? That stemmed from a successful lawsuit against a major car manufacturer by the distraught parents of a teenager who was killed trying to mimic a dangerous car stunt with the vehicle advertised on the ad...

Ever notice that the female counterparts are rarely reported in this fashion? Must be some correlation between testosterone and lack of brain signals!:p

rickg · #17 06-03-2003, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by G-Benz
Ever notice that the female counterparts are rarely reported in this fashion? Must be some correlation between testosterone and lack of brain signals!:p

More like "testosterone causing the blockage of brain signals!":p

Kuan · #18 06-03-2003, 03:13 PM

I think, when we say "experience" we really mean "did something stupid and lived to tell about it."

I recall putting my Dad's Mazda in the ditch once, and then I had to run to my Grandmother's house and ask her to talk to my Dad.

mikemover · #19 06-04-2003, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Richard Eldridge
I saw the promos for this stupid film, and thought it MIGHT be worth watching on video for $2.00.

So I rented it. It's not worth a damn as entertainment. Mostly, it is just stupid.

Watching a bunch of morons destroy a miniature golf course COULD be funny, perhaps, but it wasn't the way they did it. There are only a few minor chuckles in the entire film, at least in my opinion.

The stunts are poorly thought out and poorly done.

Either you get it or you don't. Where is your sense of humor?

Do I think it is f**king hilarious? YES! Did I ever try such stunts when I was a kid? No.

I'm a firm believer in social darwinism. Either you are an idiot or you are not. No TV show or movie or rock band is to blame.

Mike

#20 06-05-2003, 03:40 AM

For a 14 year old, that is pretty poor. I mean, I learnt dangers of HOT when I touched the stove once when I was 3.

I never got the thrill when I was little though to do anything really dangerous. Once though I did plug in a broken extention lead into the power socket, not knowing the wires at the severed end where twisted together. That made an awfully gigantic bang.

As for jumping off the roof, I once though about suing a bunch of plastic bags together to create a parachute, but I then calculated that a 1 story high house wouldn't be enough distance to let it open up intime.

Blu 420Sel · #21 06-05-2003, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Either you get it or you don't. Where is your sense of humor?

Do I think it is f**king hilarious? YES! Did I ever try such stunts when I was a kid? No.

I'm a firm believer in social darwinism. Either you are an idiot or you are not. No TV show or movie or rock band is to blame.

I have to say I'm really shocked by some of these opinions. I've never seen a group of people take pleasure in the deaths and serious injury of children before. Sounds like something I'd hear on the news about the Taliban. I think you need to read into these actions a little deeper.

I would bet good money that these children were at best neglected and at worse abused. Clearly these kind of actions aren't normal behavior for anyone intellegent or otherwise, and to write it off as simply stupidity is just that. These are suicidal teenagers who have for one reason or another are desperate to get anyone to pay attention long enough to recognise their plight.

Social Darwinism??? What kind of half-baked theory is that? It must be the one that says 'If you are so depressed that you feel suicidal then you deserve to die for being too weak!' This is the same kind of half-baked logic that says poor people deserve to be poor because they are uneducated and women who wear short skirts should expect to be raped. Social Darwinism?? You are saying that people who haven't had the benifit of a nurturing family or community to teach them better deserve to die?? The world you would have us live has all the compassion of a prison yard. If that's the kind of community you'd like to see your children grow up in I pity them....

Austin814 · #22 06-05-2003, 04:51 PM

Not to be in direct conflict of Blu 420sel but, I feel that the other extreme in which the world has been rushing towards at full speed is a world of "it’s not my fault". There are "conditions" for people who are overweight, "conditions" for people who "momentarily" were insane, "conditions" for every possible personal flaw a person might have, and to make ourselves feel better about it, we make a public announcement that, "Its not my fault, I have a condition". I feel there are some cases that are legitimate, but I will not sit silently while a person tells me they lit themselves on fire because they wanted attention or for any other reason to debunk the fact that they did something completely illogical, irrational and should have known better.

I presume it’s possible this child did not have the world’s greatest parents, but I am also able to presume that 98.9% of teens and young adults would not set themselves on fire. This means one of two things, 98.9% of teens have adequate care and attention from there parents, or 1.1% of the teens lack common sense and do not understand cause and effect.

(Drops 2 cents in the machine)

tabasco85331 · #23 06-05-2003, 05:46 PM

Young people are really easily influenced because they have little experience to fall back on . Talk about movies influencing behavior , ever since the movie ''The Fast And The Furious'' came out I have noticed that alot of young men have these stupid looking ''giant spoilers'' and loud exhaust pipes on almost every kind of car imaginable and they drive like wannabe street racers . Most of these kids act like they want to race you and pull some pretty stupid and dangerous stuff . This movie tries to glamorize racing on the public streets . I hope this trend ends soon . My family and I don't think it's ''cool'' to endanger our lives with bad driving . They should have called the movie - ''How To Look Like An Idiot While Driving A Moron'' .

Ken300D · #24 06-05-2003, 08:24 PM

The thing I hate to read about is the annual bungee-jumping story where the people don't check the length of the cord first, and smack the ground or water.........

I think I'd rather sky dive than bungee jump.

Ken300D

tabasco85331 · #25 06-05-2003, 11:48 PM

Death is a sure cure for stupidity . Talk about Darwinism in action !

mikemover · #26 06-08-2003, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Blu 420Sel
I have to say I'm really shocked by some of these opinions. I've never seen a group of people take pleasure in the deaths and serious injury of children before. Sounds like something I'd hear on the news about the Taliban. I think you need to read into these actions a little deeper.

If you were paying ANY attention at all to what you were reading, you would know that I was responding to someone's comment about the MOVIE (Jackass) not being funny, and I did NOT mean that people dying or being injured was funny. So I think YOU need to read a little more l closely before jumping into a rant about someone.

Quote:

Originally posted by Blu 420Sel
Social Darwinism??? What kind of half-baked theory is that?

Yes, Social Darwinism. More simply, it is the concept that, barring any physical or mental handicap that prevents one from overcoming certain things, you are where you are in life as a result of YOUR OWN decisions, actions, or lack of action. If you are an able-bodied and able-minded person, then failure is a choice. There are no excuses.

Mike

#27 06-08-2003, 11:59 AM

Hear hear Mikemover!

Exactly what I was thinking.

If I mad comments like that I'd be called a....insensitive jerk!

I totally agree with Mike. You fail cause you want, you succeed cause you want to.