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Eh, no, you're inventing a narrative. The guy knew the downside actually or he wouldn't have bothered to use the app to identify it. He knew the downsides, he r

Eh, no, you're inventing a narrative. The guy knew the downside actually or he wouldn't have bothered to use the app to identify it. He knew the downsides, he rolled the dice, he lost. His wife knew the downsides, didn't roll the dice, and he thankfully lived maybe because of that. You also don't know that the app doesn't warn users that it shouldn't be used in life and death situations, but I'll maintain that it shouldn't have to. To avoid "criminal negligence" accusations. If I have a rock identification app does it need to say not to eat rocks to avoid liability for dental damages? If I sell bicycles do I have to tell you that rolling downhill fast can cause death or injury?

SamoyedFurFluff 4y ago
I think you’re misunderstanding the point here. Mushroom identification isn’t the same as bike selling or rock identification because the purpose of those isn’t to avoid danger. Almost the entire purpose is to reduce the “rolling the dice” factor in mushroom eating. In fact, that is precisely why traditional mushroom identification has such a wealth of deep knowledge, such as noticing ecological location, weather patterns, neighboring plants, etc. to reduce this as much as possible. It is more comparable if you built an app to identify cancerous moles, except it produced false negatives significantly more often than an actual doctor, leading to people dying. This isn’t a “roll the dice” thing.
- DangitBobby 4y ago
  I don't think the intended purpose of the app is to tell you whether a mushroom or plant is edible or not, I think it's merely meant to identify plants, fungi, and other things for a hobbyist who's into botany and the like. I could definitely see where you're coming from if the app advertised itself as a "a great wilderness survival companion app" or something like that... But we're pretty much speculating, here. This is specific as the story gets > he used the plant identification app Which I think is a different category of app altogether from a fungus/plant edibility app.
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  - colechristensen 4y ago
    It doesn’t matter what the app intends to do. You should not under any circumstances identify mushrooms without loudly and clearly spelling out specific dangers.
    - DangitBobby 4y ago
      It would probably be wise to do so, especially after you've learned that it could save lives. But to decide after the fact that it's criminal negligence is not a healthy outcome. I'm all for trying to make sure people don't hurt themselves, but the app makers should not be legally responsible for the decision that was made here, period.

SamoyedFurFluff 4y ago

I think you’re misunderstanding the point here. Mushroom identification isn’t the same as bike selling or rock identification because the purpose of those isn’t to avoid danger. Almost the entire purpose is to reduce the “rolling the dice” factor in mushroom eating. In fact, that is precisely why traditional mushroom identification has such a wealth of deep knowledge, such as noticing ecological location, weather patterns, neighboring plants, etc. to reduce this as much as possible. It is more comparable if you built an app to identify cancerous moles, except it produced false negatives significantly more often than an actual doctor, leading to people dying. This isn’t a “roll the dice” thing.

DangitBobby 4y ago
I don't think the intended purpose of the app is to tell you whether a mushroom or plant is edible or not, I think it's merely meant to identify plants, fungi, and other things for a hobbyist who's into botany and the like. I could definitely see where you're coming from if the app advertised itself as a "a great wilderness survival companion app" or something like that... But we're pretty much speculating, here. This is specific as the story gets > he used the plant identification app Which I think is a different category of app altogether from a fungus/plant edibility app.
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- colechristensen 4y ago
  It doesn’t matter what the app intends to do. You should not under any circumstances identify mushrooms without loudly and clearly spelling out specific dangers.
  - DangitBobby 4y ago
    It would probably be wise to do so, especially after you've learned that it could save lives. But to decide after the fact that it's criminal negligence is not a healthy outcome. I'm all for trying to make sure people don't hurt themselves, but the app makers should not be legally responsible for the decision that was made here, period.