3 ms·

A horse is a massive mountain of muscle. It's thrilling to have one work with you and for you because of their power, but when things go wrong (like a horse fa

A horse is a massive mountain of muscle. It's thrilling to have one work with you and for you because of their power, but when things go wrong (like a horse falling on you), you will be caught up in something your comparatively weak hairless ape body can't counter forcefully. The idea of hitching such a monstrosity to a skittish and ornery personality...

krono 9y ago
Meanwhile I see every type of person from teenage girl to greying men texting/looking at their phone at 130 km/h in their aluminium box on wheels on a daily basis. Humans...
- Rumudiez 9y ago
  I think this is a pretty fair point. Cars are incredibly dangerous to others and many drivers completely disregard that. A 5-star safety rating doesn't mean anything to the pedestrian or cyclist in front of you, but people tend to act like it's no big deal since they themselves are unlikely to be seriously injured. Risk homeostasis or risk compensation explains this behavior quite well, and I believe it's a very damaging affliction on our car-centric society: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation
  - perl4ever 9y ago
    Before cars, when horses were the typical mode of transportation, they were quite dangerous too. I haven't done research to quantify it, but I've noticed while reading random articles on historical people in Wikipedia, that quite a few died falling off a horse. Even in modern times, the few people who ride horses often have accidents - I bet you can name a famous one without looking it up...
  - avar 9y ago
    > A 5-star safety rating doesn't > mean anything to the pedestrian > or cyclist in front of you[...] It does, the Euro NCAP now includes pedestrian and cyclist safety in their assessments[1]. 1. https://www.euroncap.com/en/press-media/press-releases/new-leaf-charging-ahead-with-5-star-result-in-toughest-safety-tests-to-date/ https://www.euroncap.com/en/press-media/press-releases/new-l...
mlevental 9y ago
>weak hairless ape body lol i get your drift but i don't see what hair has to do with it (unless we're all biblical samson)
- pilsetnieks 9y ago
  I think he meant the phrase "hairless ape" to be parsed together, to indicate human. Not a ((weak, hairless, ape) body) but a ((weak, hairless-ape) body)
  - mlevental 9y ago
    I get it but aren't there hairless apes that are very strong? I just meant it's the wrong poetic flourish
    - pilsetnieks 9y ago
      The only references I can find to hairless apes (that aren't humans) are chimp that are either shaved or have alopecia.
  - rectang 9y ago
    Yeah... It's a phrase from my youth. I thought I was channeling Douglas Adams or something like that. Turns out to have been Howard the Duck comics. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hairless%20Ape https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hairless%20A...

krono 9y ago

Meanwhile I see every type of person from teenage girl to greying men texting/looking at their phone at 130 km/h in their aluminium box on wheels on a daily basis. Humans...

Rumudiez 9y ago
I think this is a pretty fair point. Cars are incredibly dangerous to others and many drivers completely disregard that. A 5-star safety rating doesn't mean anything to the pedestrian or cyclist in front of you, but people tend to act like it's no big deal since they themselves are unlikely to be seriously injured. Risk homeostasis or risk compensation explains this behavior quite well, and I believe it's a very damaging affliction on our car-centric society: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation
- perl4ever 9y ago
  Before cars, when horses were the typical mode of transportation, they were quite dangerous too. I haven't done research to quantify it, but I've noticed while reading random articles on historical people in Wikipedia, that quite a few died falling off a horse. Even in modern times, the few people who ride horses often have accidents - I bet you can name a famous one without looking it up...
- avar 9y ago
  > A 5-star safety rating doesn't > mean anything to the pedestrian > or cyclist in front of you[...] It does, the Euro NCAP now includes pedestrian and cyclist safety in their assessments[1]. 1. https://www.euroncap.com/en/press-media/press-releases/new-leaf-charging-ahead-with-5-star-result-in-toughest-safety-tests-to-date/ https://www.euroncap.com/en/press-media/press-releases/new-l...

mlevental 9y ago

>weak hairless ape body lol i get your drift but i don't see what hair has to do with it (unless we're all biblical samson)

pilsetnieks 9y ago
I think he meant the phrase "hairless ape" to be parsed together, to indicate human. Not a ((weak, hairless, ape) body) but a ((weak, hairless-ape) body)
- mlevental 9y ago
  I get it but aren't there hairless apes that are very strong? I just meant it's the wrong poetic flourish
  - pilsetnieks 9y ago
    The only references I can find to hairless apes (that aren't humans) are chimp that are either shaved or have alopecia.
- rectang 9y ago
  Yeah... It's a phrase from my youth. I thought I was channeling Douglas Adams or something like that. Turns out to have been Howard the Duck comics. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hairless%20Ape https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hairless%20A...