3 ms·

That is your personal decision, not a fact. I mean, you could say the same about riding a motorcycle. Riding a motorcycle only slightly increases your risk of

by yarcob 5y ago

That is your personal decision, not a fact. I mean, you could say the same about riding a motorcycle. Riding a motorcycle only slightly increases your risk of dying in a horrible traffic accident, but for a lot of people the risk is big enough that they stop riding once they have kids.

mnahkies 5y ago
I don't know the actual stats, but the danger of motorcycle riding is something that you are constantly aware of when on a bike. You're constantly scanning for that one car that won't see you and plow into the side of you, and if you're in the hills a lapse in concentration or patch of gravel can throw you off. What I mean by that is it's much easier to identify it as a high risk activity compared to alcohol or cigarettes since the risk is an in your face might end you today, rather than an abstract idea of this will hurt you in the long run
Broken_Hippo 5y ago
People are aware of motorcycle risks upfront: They go fast. Wrecks are spectacular, and you don't go far to meet someone that has been affected by such an accident. You have safety gear, after all. Alcohol isn't like that. Alcohol is more akin to something like going up stairs or showering or heck, a little similar to smoking. None of these things seem all that dangerous while you do them. But as it turns out, showers are pretty dangerous. Stairs make for horrible accidents, which is why it is so important to have the angle and height right (and even). Smoking, at first, does't seem like it'll give you cancer in 30 years, and may neve "feel" dangerous if you do it sporadically. And the poster is correct: It doesn't matter much if you have a 3% more chance of dying of something if your chances are properly low in the first place - even after the increase, your chances are still low.
- jusssi 5y ago
  > Alcohol isn't like that. Alcohol is more akin to something like going up stairs or showering or heck, a little similar to smoking. Most people I know have someone in their family or friends who has died because of alcohol related diseases or accidents.
  - datavirtue 5y ago
    Yeah, and you are usually dead to your family twenty years before alcohol finally stops your body.
  - Broken_Hippo 5y ago
    But that's the point entirely. Showers and going up stairs are everyday activities: Most of us know someone that's been hurt on stairs or in the shower: Shower falls cause lots of injuries every year. The risks become overlooked because of familiarity and it makes it easier to minimize the risks. It doesn't help that the downsides often aren't immediate: It takes some years to develop disease from it, after all. In general, it takes hours for you to wind up in the hospital or harm someone else - but most of the time, much like showering or walking up the stairs, nothing of note happens.

by yarcob 5y ago

mnahkies 5y ago

I don't know the actual stats, but the danger of motorcycle riding is something that you are constantly aware of when on a bike. You're constantly scanning for that one car that won't see you and plow into the side of you, and if you're in the hills a lapse in concentration or patch of gravel can throw you off. What I mean by that is it's much easier to identify it as a high risk activity compared to alcohol or cigarettes since the risk is an in your face might end you today, rather than an abstract idea of this will hurt you in the long run

Broken_Hippo 5y ago

People are aware of motorcycle risks upfront: They go fast. Wrecks are spectacular, and you don't go far to meet someone that has been affected by such an accident. You have safety gear, after all. Alcohol isn't like that. Alcohol is more akin to something like going up stairs or showering or heck, a little similar to smoking. None of these things seem all that dangerous while you do them. But as it turns out, showers are pretty dangerous. Stairs make for horrible accidents, which is why it is so important to have the angle and height right (and even). Smoking, at first, does't seem like it'll give you cancer in 30 years, and may neve "feel" dangerous if you do it sporadically. And the poster is correct: It doesn't matter much if you have a 3% more chance of dying of something if your chances are properly low in the first place - even after the increase, your chances are still low.

jusssi 5y ago
> Alcohol isn't like that. Alcohol is more akin to something like going up stairs or showering or heck, a little similar to smoking. Most people I know have someone in their family or friends who has died because of alcohol related diseases or accidents.
- datavirtue 5y ago
  Yeah, and you are usually dead to your family twenty years before alcohol finally stops your body.
- Broken_Hippo 5y ago
  But that's the point entirely. Showers and going up stairs are everyday activities: Most of us know someone that's been hurt on stairs or in the shower: Shower falls cause lots of injuries every year. The risks become overlooked because of familiarity and it makes it easier to minimize the risks. It doesn't help that the downsides often aren't immediate: It takes some years to develop disease from it, after all. In general, it takes hours for you to wind up in the hospital or harm someone else - but most of the time, much like showering or walking up the stairs, nothing of note happens.