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You would only have needed to outfit the tallest buildings being built. Do you know how many individual paratroopers have jumped out of planes? There is no way

You would only have needed to outfit the tallest buildings being built. Do you know how many individual paratroopers have jumped out of planes? There is no way the cost is prohibitive. Parachuting is one of the last ways I'd want to go down, but, why wouldn't I want one if my only choice were to splat or char?

drjesusphd 10y ago
> why wouldn't I want one if my only choice were to splat or char? That isn't your only choice because the scenario is exceedingly unlikely to happen. If safety is your thing, you'd be much better off spending the several thousand dollars on doctors visits, healthier food, gym memberships, and/or public transit throughout the year.
- jsprogrammer 10y ago
  if It's unlikely a seatbelt will save my life, but every car I go in has multiple. The original argument presented here is equivalent to arguing it's too expensive and useless to carry enough lifeboat capacity for everyone on a ship after the Titanic sunk. It's extremely unlikely that I'll ever impact an iceberg.
  - danso 10y ago
    How many times do you practice putting on your seatbelt, and how long does it take to put it on? For me, I put on my seatbelt every time I enter a car, and it takes me seconds. I've never put on a parachute or practiced deploying one. Lifeboats are not just for iceberg collisions. There are many reasons for a boat to sink that don't involve a collision.
    - jsprogrammer 10y ago
      Practically no one had put on a seat belt before they were introduced either. The cost of parachutes and placards to describe their proper usage is absolutely trivial in consideration of the budget of any building from which parachutes could actually be deployed. Buildings don't just collapse from airplane collisions; fires, bombs, earthquakes, structural failure, hostile takeover, and more could all be scenarios where you might only survive if you have a chute.
      - sulam 10y ago
        How many people have died in building collapses over the last 50 years? Alternatively, how many people have died in car crashes? Large boats getting sunk? Lightning strikes? Obviously these are rhetorical questions: it is far, far more likely to be hit by lightning than to die in a building collapse. If you truly believe this risk is worth mitigating I would put my money/time where my mouth is and not depend on some building supervisor to keep enough parachutes around and keep them in good condition. Instead you should get some training*, buy a BASE jumping parachute and take it with you when you go above 60m. As you say, they are relatively inexpensive. [1] Note: be careful -- you are much more likely to be killed in your training than you are to need to use it.
        jsprogrammer 10y ago
        It's far more cost efficient to just avoid entering such areas.
        dredmorbius 10y ago
        That's about the first sensible thing I've seen you say in this thread. Yes: it's far more cost effective to avoid the risk altogether than attempt to mitigate the exceptionally unlikely event of a very-tall-building collapse or fire, particularly through use of, say, parachutes (into an urban landscape with many landing hazards and few readily accessible landing zones). On the other hand, that decision also means foregoing opportunities, including the income potential of working for a firm in or near a dense downtown with such tall office towers in it. A cost you might be willing to accept. Risks and costs can be balanced, though the cases in which people make decisions which are both fully informed and rational strike me as relatively rare.
        jsprogrammer 10y ago
        The supply of highly suspended office space is quite limited and I'd guess that almost none of the highest paid workers work in one. If the cost of a few dozen parachutes is deemed too expensive to hold in reserve for emergencies then I have to seriously doubt that such a space could have much real-increase on income. At best, I'd expect the ownership to collect much of the increase in rent as the small supply is fought for.
  - drjesusphd 10y ago
    It's far more likely that you'll need your seatbelt in a car or a life boat on a ship than a parachute in a high-rise office.

drjesusphd 10y ago

> why wouldn't I want one if my only choice were to splat or char? That isn't your only choice because the scenario is exceedingly unlikely to happen. If safety is your thing, you'd be much better off spending the several thousand dollars on doctors visits, healthier food, gym memberships, and/or public transit throughout the year.

jsprogrammer 10y ago
if It's unlikely a seatbelt will save my life, but every car I go in has multiple. The original argument presented here is equivalent to arguing it's too expensive and useless to carry enough lifeboat capacity for everyone on a ship after the Titanic sunk. It's extremely unlikely that I'll ever impact an iceberg.
- danso 10y ago
  How many times do you practice putting on your seatbelt, and how long does it take to put it on? For me, I put on my seatbelt every time I enter a car, and it takes me seconds. I've never put on a parachute or practiced deploying one. Lifeboats are not just for iceberg collisions. There are many reasons for a boat to sink that don't involve a collision.
  - jsprogrammer 10y ago
    Practically no one had put on a seat belt before they were introduced either. The cost of parachutes and placards to describe their proper usage is absolutely trivial in consideration of the budget of any building from which parachutes could actually be deployed. Buildings don't just collapse from airplane collisions; fires, bombs, earthquakes, structural failure, hostile takeover, and more could all be scenarios where you might only survive if you have a chute.
    - sulam 10y ago
      How many people have died in building collapses over the last 50 years? Alternatively, how many people have died in car crashes? Large boats getting sunk? Lightning strikes? Obviously these are rhetorical questions: it is far, far more likely to be hit by lightning than to die in a building collapse. If you truly believe this risk is worth mitigating I would put my money/time where my mouth is and not depend on some building supervisor to keep enough parachutes around and keep them in good condition. Instead you should get some training*, buy a BASE jumping parachute and take it with you when you go above 60m. As you say, they are relatively inexpensive. [1] Note: be careful -- you are much more likely to be killed in your training than you are to need to use it.
      - jsprogrammer 10y ago
        It's far more cost efficient to just avoid entering such areas.
        dredmorbius 10y ago
        That's about the first sensible thing I've seen you say in this thread. Yes: it's far more cost effective to avoid the risk altogether than attempt to mitigate the exceptionally unlikely event of a very-tall-building collapse or fire, particularly through use of, say, parachutes (into an urban landscape with many landing hazards and few readily accessible landing zones). On the other hand, that decision also means foregoing opportunities, including the income potential of working for a firm in or near a dense downtown with such tall office towers in it. A cost you might be willing to accept. Risks and costs can be balanced, though the cases in which people make decisions which are both fully informed and rational strike me as relatively rare.
        jsprogrammer 10y ago
        The supply of highly suspended office space is quite limited and I'd guess that almost none of the highest paid workers work in one. If the cost of a few dozen parachutes is deemed too expensive to hold in reserve for emergencies then I have to seriously doubt that such a space could have much real-increase on income. At best, I'd expect the ownership to collect much of the increase in rent as the small supply is fought for.
- drjesusphd 10y ago
  It's far more likely that you'll need your seatbelt in a car or a life boat on a ship than a parachute in a high-rise office.