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> Ethan Guo was hoping to become the youngest person to fly solo to all seven continents I think a more favorable title is "US pilot stranded in Antarctica aft
by soulofmischief 1y ago
> Ethan Guo was hoping to become the youngest person to fly solo to all seven continents
I think a more favorable title is "US pilot stranded in Antarctica after landing plane without permission". They chose the word "influencer" for a reason, even though it was a pilot trying to set a record that happened to film himself. He's even flying to raise funds for cancer research.
Too bad he lied to ground control, what a great way to lose your license, prison aside.
edit: to answer some of the replies, I'm just concerned with the implicit patronization that media applies to anyone who has a hobby/career but also makes money off of publicizing it.
- bachmeier 1y ago> They chose the word "influencer" for a reason And that reason is his 600K followers on TikTok.
- CGMthrowaway 1y agoWhich could describe tens of thousands of people posting to tiktok. I know someone who got to half a million without even trying.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> Which could describe tens of thousands of people posting to tiktok The relevant nexus is influencer status and doing something dangerous and stupid. At the very least, he will lose his ability to fly.
- aredox 1y ago>He's even flying to raise funds for cancer research. He is even using sick kids as a cover for his behavior. Honestly if he isn't a manipulative psychopath, he is well on his way to become one.
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- jameslk 1y agoWhat differentiates a person who’s doing a stunt to raise money for a charitable cause and a person who is “using sick kids as cover” for their behavior?
- keybored 1y agoOnly God and the person in question knows.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> What differentiates a person who’s doing a stunt to raise money for a charitable cause and a person who is “using sick kids as cover” for their behavior? One, coördination. Did the charity know about this fundraiser? Two, long-term orientation. Is this a one-off to gain followers? Or is he consistently giving to charity? Three, outcome. How much did he raise and donate? None of these bear favourably for this kid. He’s an influencer. It’s nice he’s making people think about charity. But he’s not showing any signs of giving a shit about the effects of his actions.
- jameslk 1y agoSurely you can do all of those things and still be a machiavellian psychopath? Or be too lazy to do those things and still have altruistic intentions? Couldn’t someone have both selfish and altruistic intentions simultaneously? My point being, it’s hard to know the truth but easy to assume the worst about someone. Maybe I don’t have enough context to know otherwise, but I don’t see a reason to jump to the conclusion this kid is a psychopath
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago
- exabrial 1y agobecause thats exactly what he is?
- jncfhnb 1y ago> He's even flying to raise funds for cancer research. The best line from the Lorax film is in this song where he’s trying to put a positive spin on his aggressive commercialization and they say “a portion of proceeds goes to charity”!
- phkahler 1y ago>> “a portion of proceeds goes to charity”! Right! How much does this world tour cost vs how much he brings in vs how much goes to cancer research?
- CGMthrowaway 1y agoWhat does it matter, if the proceeds would never have been generated in the first place without the adventure?
- jncfhnb 1y agoif a guy makes a million dollars doing something shitty for himself and donates a thousand to charity it shouldn’t cancel out
- slumberlust 1y agoYou might enjoy this classic: https://youtu.be/kTdScE3Rqh8 https://youtu.be/kTdScE3Rqh8
- pjc50 1y agoThis incident reminds me of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathias_Rust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathias_Rust and his landing in Red Square. A risky thing to do at a time when air defences were very much live, and also incredibly risky to land in a public square, but he made it and only spent a few months in prison.
- keybored 1y agoThousands of people have pursued their dreams or goals while doing-it-to-raise-funds-for-good-cause. I don’t really get it... people can just do whatever and put an Other People Are Helping Cure Cancer sticker on it. Like, what? What does this stunt have to do with cancer?
- xg15 1y agoHe is an influencer and a pilot. Both things are relevant to the story.
- soulofmischief 1y agoAnd yet the headline cherry-picked one of them.
- 0xffff2 1y agoThe "is a pilot" part can reasonably be inferred from "after landing plane". It doesn't need to be stated explicitly.
- soulofmischief 1y agoWe can dispense with the rhetoric, it's very obvious that the headline was chosen to elicit a specific reaction and frame the story in a specific way.
- calmbonsai 1y agoI concur with the consequences and the perverse incentives involved, but this goes with the general advice of "If you're going to break the law, either do so extremely publicly or extremely privately." The really sad thing here is I have little doubt this could've been arranged legally given the respective parties and interests involved, but Mr. Guo chose to be selfish and foolhardy by not abiding by anyone else's timeline or interests. He deserves all the punishment and derision coming his way.
- jart 1y agoThey probably left him no choice but to lie. They're not a very good government.
- dragonwriter 1y ago> They probably left him no choice but to lie Since the whole flight was a choice, he obviously had the choice not to lie.