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Particularly interesting is #32, Sun Jifa. He couldn't afford prosthesis arms so he built his own. They were apparently so good that others who'd lost their arm

by clicks 13y ago

Particularly interesting is #32, Sun Jifa. He couldn't afford prosthesis arms so he built his own. They were apparently so good that others who'd lost their arms requested him to make them prosthesis arms as well, so he made a business out of it, and now sells them at very reasonable prices. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22660393 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22660393

noonespecial 13y ago
The caption says that he lost his arms in a dynamite fishing accident! Losing a limb is a terrible thing, but if you have to be handicapped, that is one hell of a back story.
- andreyf 13y ago
  Mr. Jifa is obviously very inventive and resourceful, but dynamite fishing is actually quite detrimental to underwater ecosystems, kills more fish than are harvested, and because of this, is illegal in most of the developed world. "Underwater shock waves produced by the explosion stun the fish and cause their swim bladders to rupture. This rupturing causes an abrupt loss of buoyancy; a small number of fish float to the surface, but most sink to the sea floor. The explosions indiscriminately kill large numbers of fish and other marine organisms in the vicinity and can damage or destroy the physical environment, including extensive damage to coral reefs" [1] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_fishing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_fishing
  - CamperBob2 13y ago
    Yes, that photo of Mr. Jifa should appear in the dictionary under "Karma." Fishing with dynamite is a pretty lame-ass thing to do.
    - ntumlin 13y ago
      Though blast fishing is inconsiderate to the fish, I'm not sure that I would personally justify a man losing his arms because he was acting in a detrimental way to the local wildlife.
    - PhantomGremlin 13y ago
      Yes, maybe it was karma. But the man has been without his hands for 32 years. I think he's paid the price for his actions.
    - precisioncoder 13y ago
      Karma is mostly understood to mean "cause and effect". Not "do bad things and you will be punished by the universe". A famous buddhist teacher once was asked why a man had been hit by a car. He answered "He wasn't looking where he was going".
    - Scramblejams 13y ago
      I'll tell you what a lame-ass thing to do is: Criticizing the ostensible environmental insensitivity of a guy who, amidst grinding poverty the likes of which you and I cannot properly imagine, lost his arms trying to feed himself and his dependents.
      - CamperBob2 13y ago
        ROFL. With dynamite? Things are tough all over. Now that I apparently have your permission, maybe I'll go camp out in Bill Gates's back yard tonight and spotlight some deer.
        Scramblejams 13y ago
        Yeah, freakin' poor people. If they were decent human beings they'd be living green, sustainable, carbon-neutral lives respectful of Mother Gaia. It'd be nice if they weren't poor, but since they're such greedy anti-environmental jerks, they probably deserve it. If the fish aren't biting and your children are starving, you're going to do what you have to do.
        deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    I would say that being able to be concerned about the (very real) negative side of dynamite fishing is something of a luxury. I can't say if he could afford that luxury or not, but if he had to build his own prosthetic limbs then I am inclined to think that he could not.
  - analyst74 13y ago
    Minor correction, he would be Mr. Sun, with given name being Jifa.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
westiseast 13y ago
wait...he built himself a pair of replacement arms...without any arms? Geez...
- shabble 13y ago
  The caption for #32 includes "He spent two years guiding his two nephews to build him prostheses from scrap metal, plastic and rubber." That noted, there are some pretty incredible achievements by people missing both hands/arms. One that springs to mind is Jessica Cox[1] (via reddit iama[2]), who is both a black-belt in Taekwondo, and has a pilots licence. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Cox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Cox [2] http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ad6n0/im_the_worlds_only_armless_pilot_a_black_belt_and/ http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ad6n0/im_the_worlds_o...
DanBC 13y ago
Prosthetics for developing world is an interesting problem. Here is a story about a UK teen who asked a Formula One team to help him with a fake arm. They didn't give him any money, but they helped with fundraising and engineering and he has an amazing arm now. (http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2098108_f1_boss_helps_fund_bionic_hand_for_matthew_14 http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2098108_f1_boss_helps_fun...) Compare that to this YouTube video of people making false arms out of old soda bottles. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg) (http://blog.makezine.com/2009/02/05/plastic-soda-bottle-prosthesis/ http://blog.makezine.com/2009/02/05/plastic-soda-bottle-pros...)

by clicks 13y ago

noonespecial 13y ago

The caption says that he lost his arms in a dynamite fishing accident! Losing a limb is a terrible thing, but if you have to be handicapped, that is one hell of a back story.

andreyf 13y ago
Mr. Jifa is obviously very inventive and resourceful, but dynamite fishing is actually quite detrimental to underwater ecosystems, kills more fish than are harvested, and because of this, is illegal in most of the developed world. "Underwater shock waves produced by the explosion stun the fish and cause their swim bladders to rupture. This rupturing causes an abrupt loss of buoyancy; a small number of fish float to the surface, but most sink to the sea floor. The explosions indiscriminately kill large numbers of fish and other marine organisms in the vicinity and can damage or destroy the physical environment, including extensive damage to coral reefs" [1] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_fishing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_fishing
- CamperBob2 13y ago
  Yes, that photo of Mr. Jifa should appear in the dictionary under "Karma." Fishing with dynamite is a pretty lame-ass thing to do.
  - ntumlin 13y ago
    Though blast fishing is inconsiderate to the fish, I'm not sure that I would personally justify a man losing his arms because he was acting in a detrimental way to the local wildlife.
  - PhantomGremlin 13y ago
    Yes, maybe it was karma. But the man has been without his hands for 32 years. I think he's paid the price for his actions.
  - precisioncoder 13y ago
    Karma is mostly understood to mean "cause and effect". Not "do bad things and you will be punished by the universe". A famous buddhist teacher once was asked why a man had been hit by a car. He answered "He wasn't looking where he was going".
  - Scramblejams 13y ago
    I'll tell you what a lame-ass thing to do is: Criticizing the ostensible environmental insensitivity of a guy who, amidst grinding poverty the likes of which you and I cannot properly imagine, lost his arms trying to feed himself and his dependents.
    - CamperBob2 13y ago
      ROFL. With dynamite? Things are tough all over. Now that I apparently have your permission, maybe I'll go camp out in Bill Gates's back yard tonight and spotlight some deer.
      - Scramblejams 13y ago
        Yeah, freakin' poor people. If they were decent human beings they'd be living green, sustainable, carbon-neutral lives respectful of Mother Gaia. It'd be nice if they weren't poor, but since they're such greedy anti-environmental jerks, they probably deserve it. If the fish aren't biting and your children are starving, you're going to do what you have to do.
        deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
- jlgreco 13y ago
  I would say that being able to be concerned about the (very real) negative side of dynamite fishing is something of a luxury. I can't say if he could afford that luxury or not, but if he had to build his own prosthetic limbs then I am inclined to think that he could not.
- analyst74 13y ago
  Minor correction, he would be Mr. Sun, with given name being Jifa.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

westiseast 13y ago

wait...he built himself a pair of replacement arms...without any arms? Geez...

shabble 13y ago
The caption for #32 includes "He spent two years guiding his two nephews to build him prostheses from scrap metal, plastic and rubber." That noted, there are some pretty incredible achievements by people missing both hands/arms. One that springs to mind is Jessica Cox[1] (via reddit iama[2]), who is both a black-belt in Taekwondo, and has a pilots licence. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Cox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Cox [2] http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ad6n0/im_the_worlds_only_armless_pilot_a_black_belt_and/ http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ad6n0/im_the_worlds_o...

DanBC 13y ago

Prosthetics for developing world is an interesting problem. Here is a story about a UK teen who asked a Formula One team to help him with a fake arm. They didn't give him any money, but they helped with fundraising and engineering and he has an amazing arm now. (http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2098108_f1_boss_helps_fund_bionic_hand_for_matthew_14 http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2098108_f1_boss_helps_fun...) Compare that to this YouTube video of people making false arms out of old soda bottles. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg) (http://blog.makezine.com/2009/02/05/plastic-soda-bottle-prosthesis/ http://blog.makezine.com/2009/02/05/plastic-soda-bottle-pros...)