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I've made arguments like this one before, too, but I think I've finally accepted their pointlessness. Humans beings are, well, human beings, not emotionless ris

I've made arguments like this one before, too, but I think I've finally accepted their pointlessness. Humans beings are, well, human beings, not emotionless risk-calculators. We feel less safe around aggressive subway dancers than we do in an Uber. And because we're human beings, those feelings matter. You're not going to logic humanity out of it. It's not an education problem, either. People will still feel this way even once they're aware of the numbers, because we evolved in an environment that rewarded avoiding aggressive strangers and also in which automobiles did not exist.

foldr 8y ago
Yes, I know, but it's still worth noting that subway dancers aren't actually "dangerous" on any sensible definition of the term. The feelings that you mention are far from universal and significantly educable. I find subway dancers mildly irritating. They've never caused me to fear for my safety. >we evolved in an environment that rewarded avoiding aggressive strangers and also in which automobiles did not exist. People from remote tribes who've never seen an automobile are practically scared to death when they first set foot in a city. Not being scared by cars isn't in any way the default attitude for a human to have -- quite the opposite. But we get used to cars. You can also get used to people dancing on the subway. Also, subway dancers aren't "aggressive", in my experience at least.
- dionidium 8y ago
  > People from remote tribes who've never seen an automobile are practically scared to death when they first set foot in a city. Not being scared by cars isn't in any way the default attitude for a human to have -- quite the opposite We shouldn't conflate the experience of seeing a big, loud automobile for the first time with the experience of driving or riding in one, which is designed to be so comfortable as to eliminate all sense of danger.
  - foldr 8y ago
    It’s not a conflation of ideas. I’m simply pointing out that we’re not scared of cars, or of being in cars, because we’re accustomed to the relevant experiences. (Evolution has very little to do with it, so far as I can see.) Similarly, once you’ve seen dancers on the subway a few times, you won’t be scared of them — if you ever were in the first place. There is nothing inherently scary about dancers as compared to cars. Indeed, there are all sorts of good evolutionary reasons to be less scared of dancing humans than of large, heavy, fast-moving objects.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]

foldr 8y ago

Yes, I know, but it's still worth noting that subway dancers aren't actually "dangerous" on any sensible definition of the term. The feelings that you mention are far from universal and significantly educable. I find subway dancers mildly irritating. They've never caused me to fear for my safety. >we evolved in an environment that rewarded avoiding aggressive strangers and also in which automobiles did not exist. People from remote tribes who've never seen an automobile are practically scared to death when they first set foot in a city. Not being scared by cars isn't in any way the default attitude for a human to have -- quite the opposite. But we get used to cars. You can also get used to people dancing on the subway. Also, subway dancers aren't "aggressive", in my experience at least.

dionidium 8y ago
> People from remote tribes who've never seen an automobile are practically scared to death when they first set foot in a city. Not being scared by cars isn't in any way the default attitude for a human to have -- quite the opposite We shouldn't conflate the experience of seeing a big, loud automobile for the first time with the experience of driving or riding in one, which is designed to be so comfortable as to eliminate all sense of danger.
- foldr 8y ago
  It’s not a conflation of ideas. I’m simply pointing out that we’re not scared of cars, or of being in cars, because we’re accustomed to the relevant experiences. (Evolution has very little to do with it, so far as I can see.) Similarly, once you’ve seen dancers on the subway a few times, you won’t be scared of them — if you ever were in the first place. There is nothing inherently scary about dancers as compared to cars. Indeed, there are all sorts of good evolutionary reasons to be less scared of dancing humans than of large, heavy, fast-moving objects.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]