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The target of the adventure is also surprisingly ironic. The Titanic is one of the most notorious icons of human hubris. And these tourists died to the same.

voisin 3y ago
Is it an icon of human hubris or simply a tragedy that they didn’t think could happen? I.e. did they take undue risks because of the belief that it was unsinkable? There was another boat not too far off when it sank so presumably they were taking normal risks and it was just an unfortunate way to learn that their belief that it was unsinkable was wrong. Or are you referring to the insufficient number of lifeboats? I haven’t seen any evidence that other ships carried a larger number of lifeboats relative to their size.
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  > Is it an icon of human hubris or simply a tragedy that they didn’t think could happen? https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20120402-the-myth-of-the-unsinkable-ship https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20120402-the-myth-of-the-... (Titanic anniversary: The myth of the unsinkable ship) "There is no danger that Titanic will sink. The boat is unsinkable and nothing but inconvenience will be suffered by the passengers." Phillip Franklin, White Star Line vice-president, 1912
  - voisin 3y ago
    I don’t deny that this was the prevailing wisdom but did it lead to them taking any extra risk (relative to what other ships did at the time) as a result?
    - 411111111111111 3y ago
      Uh, the Titanic ran into an gigantic piece of ice which caused it to sink, the previous quote is the context for that. This submarine likely decompressed, killing the CEO and I believe 3 rich tourists because they didn't believe they needed to check the health of their submersible, firing the people that raised security concerns. I think it's safe to say that both captains were full of hubris
    - throwanem 3y ago
      It's been argued both ways for a hundred and eleven years now, but my understanding of the current historical consensus is that they weren't doing anything especially unusual for ocean liners of the day, either in design or in operation, and indeed had altered course further south in response to iceberg warnings received by radio on the 14th. It's considered to be true that the prioritization of on-time arrival and the belief that the ships of the day were too well designed to founder contributed to the disaster, but rather than representing unique hubris on the part of Titanic's builders and captain, these are understood to have been common throughout the passenger shipping industry of the day.

voisin 3y ago

Is it an icon of human hubris or simply a tragedy that they didn’t think could happen? I.e. did they take undue risks because of the belief that it was unsinkable? There was another boat not too far off when it sank so presumably they were taking normal risks and it was just an unfortunate way to learn that their belief that it was unsinkable was wrong. Or are you referring to the insufficient number of lifeboats? I haven’t seen any evidence that other ships carried a larger number of lifeboats relative to their size.

toomuchtodo 3y ago
> Is it an icon of human hubris or simply a tragedy that they didn’t think could happen? https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20120402-the-myth-of-the-unsinkable-ship https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20120402-the-myth-of-the-... (Titanic anniversary: The myth of the unsinkable ship) "There is no danger that Titanic will sink. The boat is unsinkable and nothing but inconvenience will be suffered by the passengers." Phillip Franklin, White Star Line vice-president, 1912
- voisin 3y ago
  I don’t deny that this was the prevailing wisdom but did it lead to them taking any extra risk (relative to what other ships did at the time) as a result?
  - 411111111111111 3y ago
    Uh, the Titanic ran into an gigantic piece of ice which caused it to sink, the previous quote is the context for that. This submarine likely decompressed, killing the CEO and I believe 3 rich tourists because they didn't believe they needed to check the health of their submersible, firing the people that raised security concerns. I think it's safe to say that both captains were full of hubris
  - throwanem 3y ago
    It's been argued both ways for a hundred and eleven years now, but my understanding of the current historical consensus is that they weren't doing anything especially unusual for ocean liners of the day, either in design or in operation, and indeed had altered course further south in response to iceberg warnings received by radio on the 14th. It's considered to be true that the prioritization of on-time arrival and the belief that the ships of the day were too well designed to founder contributed to the disaster, but rather than representing unique hubris on the part of Titanic's builders and captain, these are understood to have been common throughout the passenger shipping industry of the day.