5 ms·

Tricky problem. I sympathize with pilots here, but the zero-risk approach has worked very well for fliers in aggregate.

arcfour 11mo ago
...but the "zero risk" approach has led to people just lying or avoiding treatment. That's worse than it being out in the open.
- ahmeneeroe-v2 11mo ago
  What is the standard for being too mentally ill to pilot a plane?
samtho 11mo ago
The problem isn’t tricky at all, actually. Just because the punishment for seeking mental health care is losing one’s entire career doesn’t make these problems disappear, it just makes everyone very good at masking or self medicating.
- SR2Z 11mo ago
  Until, of course, someone takes shrooms and tries to shut down the engines of a plane in flight.
  - Grisu_FTP 11mo ago
    Everyone will be one with everything (including the ground)
- ahmeneeroe-v2 11mo ago
  It filters out the people who are too mentally ill to mask.
  - amypetrik8 11mo ago
    > filters out the people who are too mentally ill to mask this is a very good point - only vulnerability is a person decompensates from "able to mask" to "lets gooooo" in a very short period of time - between two flights say - then we're gonna have some problems
ooterness 11mo ago
No, it really hasn't. Sweeping the problem under the rug has already resulted in at least 150 deaths, which could have been prevented by allowing pilots to seek mental health care. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanwings_Flight_9525 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanwings_Flight_9525
- elzbardico 11mo ago
  150 deaths is statistically insignificant on this scenario and actual a very good evidence the current policy is working. It is hard for some people to have the emotional maturity to understand this, but we can't fucking prevent every fucking death. We will all fucking die sooner or later, too. You have absolutely no objective reason to suppose that changing this policy would have prevented this, not to mention the risk of making things worse.
  - SR2Z 11mo ago
    People will always die, but almost all of them will die in ways that are PREVENTABLE.
    - rcxdude 11mo ago
      The question is which ones are preventable in advance without causing other deaths.
    - elzbardico 11mo ago
      But the paradox is, all of them will die and not all preventions are Pareto efficient. I can keep an old decrepit rich guy living a miserable life for some more 6 months at the same cost that would take to me to improve the life expectancy of some 100 poor babies a few decades. I can try save a bunch of fat very-sick boomers from a respiratory infection at the cost of causing an economic crisis that will completely fuck a lot of young people too for decades ahead. Was it fucking worth?
      - SR2Z 11mo ago

...but the "zero risk" approach has led to people just lying or avoiding treatment. That's worse than it being out in the open.

ahmeneeroe-v2 11mo ago
What is the standard for being too mentally ill to pilot a plane?

samtho 11mo ago

The problem isn’t tricky at all, actually. Just because the punishment for seeking mental health care is losing one’s entire career doesn’t make these problems disappear, it just makes everyone very good at masking or self medicating.

SR2Z 11mo ago
Until, of course, someone takes shrooms and tries to shut down the engines of a plane in flight.
- Grisu_FTP 11mo ago
  Everyone will be one with everything (including the ground)
ahmeneeroe-v2 11mo ago
It filters out the people who are too mentally ill to mask.
- amypetrik8 11mo ago
  > filters out the people who are too mentally ill to mask this is a very good point - only vulnerability is a person decompensates from "able to mask" to "lets gooooo" in a very short period of time - between two flights say - then we're gonna have some problems

ooterness 11mo ago

No, it really hasn't. Sweeping the problem under the rug has already resulted in at least 150 deaths, which could have been prevented by allowing pilots to seek mental health care. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanwings_Flight_9525 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanwings_Flight_9525

elzbardico 11mo ago
150 deaths is statistically insignificant on this scenario and actual a very good evidence the current policy is working. It is hard for some people to have the emotional maturity to understand this, but we can't fucking prevent every fucking death. We will all fucking die sooner or later, too. You have absolutely no objective reason to suppose that changing this policy would have prevented this, not to mention the risk of making things worse.
- SR2Z 11mo ago
  People will always die, but almost all of them will die in ways that are PREVENTABLE.
  - rcxdude 11mo ago
    The question is which ones are preventable in advance without causing other deaths.
  - elzbardico 11mo ago
    But the paradox is, all of them will die and not all preventions are Pareto efficient. I can keep an old decrepit rich guy living a miserable life for some more 6 months at the same cost that would take to me to improve the life expectancy of some 100 poor babies a few decades. I can try save a bunch of fat very-sick boomers from a respiratory infection at the cost of causing an economic crisis that will completely fuck a lot of young people too for decades ahead. Was it fucking worth?
    - SR2Z 11mo ago