
‘Selfie epidemic’: How Israeli teenager fell to his death in Yosemite - hanging
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/03/31/yosemite-man-died-after-hanging-off-cliff-to-get-dramatic-photograph/
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bitxbitxbitcoin
I hate to sound frivolous about someone's death but I have a gripe with the
title: This was not technically a selfie attempt.

~~~
wahern
> "Ghiglieri said one difficult lesson from the tragedy, and the trend of
> risky photos worldwide, is that people should refuse requests to take
> dangerous photos when they are asked. 'In a common-sense way,' he said,
> 'many of these accidents could not happen without that assistance.'"

I'm curious what the numbers actually are--true selfies vs engaging
bystanders. Perhaps people aware of these selfie stories think they're taking
less risk with a bystander, missing the forest for the trees.

Not sure there's any fixing this problem, though, short of changing norms.
People like this seem to fundamentally lack the necessary fear (or even
capacity for fear)[1], so it's up to everybody else to save them from
themselves. I have two small children--one is daring but cautious
(internalizes lessons from accidents quickly), the other is oblivious to
danger and remains so no matter how many accidents. Neither seem to be thrill
junkies or particularly impetuous, thankfully, which are similarly difficult
dispositions to address.

[1] They may be fearful of other things, just not fearful of the stuff that
can actually kill you.

