Thread: Questions to Ponder: Discuss

Originally Posted by garza

There are several statements I have trouble believing. They include:
I wasn't thinking of myself.

You may google "Man drowns why trying to rescue another" and you'll receive numerous stories. How would you classify these heroic people? Had they been thinking of themselves they wouldn't have risked their lives, would they?


Why some people need to scrutize everything before they even consider believing it is amazing. If your brother or sister tells you not to trust somebody because the person is a thief, would you believe your sibling? Or must you wait to catch the thief in the act of stealing before you believe he is a crook?

Why wouldn't they risk their lives?

Risking your life brings a high. Ask the mountain climbers and free-fall sky divers, bull fighters and race car drivers.

Risking your life to save someone else brings a super high. The payback is unbelievable. There is no other rush like it, and the greater the risk, the greater the high. When it's over, the natural reaponse nearly every time is, 'I wasn't thinking of myself'. I'm reminded of some lines I wrote for Remembrance Day last year:

Ah, when you're there in the midst of it all,
When the bullets are flyin', and death is on call,
In the mud and the blood and the one-oh-five's bang,
For the risk of your dyin' you don't give a hang.

Been there.

Originally Posted by garza

Why wouldn't they risk their lives?

Risking your life brings a high. Ask the mountain climbers and free-fall sky divers, bull fighters and race car drivers.

Risking your life to save someone else brings a super high. The payback is unbelievable. There is no other rush like it, and the greater the risk, the greater the high. When it's over, the natural reaponse nearly every time is, 'I wasn't thinking of myself'. I'm reminded of some lines I wrote for Remembrance Day last year:

Ah, when you're there in the midst of it all,
When the bullets are flyin', and death is on call,
In the mud and the blood and the one-oh-five's bang,
For the risk of your dyin' you don't give a hang.

Been there.

Okay, consider this:

You notice a four-year-old lying helplessly in the street as a speeding bus heads straight for the child. You might consider jumping into the path of the bus to rescue the child without ever thinking of your own safety. Natural reaction, no big deal.

The child's life was put before your own.


You make the person committing the heroic act appear like the crooked gambler holding aces up his sleeve.

There's nothing crooked about it. It's the way we are made. Danger brings an adrenalin rush that when we are alone helps us get out of danger. When two lives are at risk the rush is doubled and prompts us to make that dash in front of the bus.

My ideas on this subject do not come from a textbook. As I said. Been there.

Originally Posted by garza

There's nothing crooked about it. It's the way we are made. Danger brings an adrenalin rush that when we are alone helps us get out of danger. When two lives are at risk the rush is doubled and prompts us to make that dash in front of the bus.

My ideas on this subject do not come from a textbook. As I said. Been there.

Funny. Haven't been near a textbook in years.

There isn't any danger to the person watching from the sidewalk. That dash in front of the bus is made with the intent of rescuing the child. The only way the rescuer may become concerned with his own safety is if he is certain his mission has failed. In other words, when he feels the impact of the bus. Other then that, he is focused on the child and his rescue mission.


Here's another:

Man jumps on subway tracks in front of speeding train . . . (“I don’t feel like I did something spectacular; I just saw someone who needed help,” Mr. Autrey said. “I did what I felt was right.”)

Entire story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/03/nyregion/03life.html

Originally Posted by garza

Why wouldn't they risk their lives?

Risking your life brings a high. Ask the mountain climbers and free-fall sky divers, bull fighters and race car drivers.

Risking your life to save someone else brings a super high. The payback is unbelievable.

Fallacious argument. You are equating pleasure with self-interest, and they are not the same. Pleasure is not always in our self-interest. I named several situations a couple pages back.

Okay. Whatever you say. Never mind. No es importante.

Originally Posted by garza

Risking your life to save someone else brings a super high. The payback is unbelievable.

I have to admit, I've fantasized about being heroic before.

Danger brings an adrenalin rush that when we are alone helps us get out of danger.

I used to get a rush from running to battle position when general quarters were called on my ship. One time in particular I got a very big rush when out the blue Strike (which never called general quarters, and was the high tech eyes of the ship) called the ship to general quarters. The countdown for "brace for shock" was a bit nerve-racking though. Within seconds I went from attempting to barter my life with God to just accepting death. Good thing it turned out to be a friendly jet.

Originally Posted by garza

Okay. Whatever you say. Never mind. No es importante.

He's right. This argument (bottle) has been Capped.



Just to toss something out. A Christian (or any other religious person who believes in an afterlife) is more likely to risk his/her neck because of the belief that even if the rescue attempt turns into a tragedy, life continues. Whereas, a non-believer might be a bit more hesitant to risk it "all."

I might be wrong, but there is a possible truth in the statement.