It’s the age old canard…well, if you consider over 16 years “old”, since phones with cameras haven’t really been around that long. The first commercially available one hit the market in South Korea in 2000. It wasn’t till 2002 that a US carrier, Sprint, started selling one. They were all clunky with very low resolution, less than VGA. The ability to take a really decent photo on a phone wasn’t for several more years, and true selfies, where there are cameras on the front, is only the last 6 years or so. Anyhow
(NY Daily News) Snapping a selfie proved to be more lethal than getting mauled by a shark in 2015, according to a recent report.
There have been at least 12 selfie-related deaths around the world this year —and although Mashable reported that eight people were killed by shark attacks this year, George Burgess, director of shark research at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said the figure is actually six.
Lin Qiu — who conducted a study on selfies for Nanyang Technological University — said he was surprised by the alarming rates of people risking their lives to perform dangerous stunts like dangling from skyscrapers or posing with ammunition in order to get the perfect shot.
There have always been stunt seekers, and always will be. Same with sharks. Does the his whole selfie craze drive people to do a “hey, y’all, watch this” more than prior? It could certainly mean that a few more don’t have people around to stop them or help them if trouble occurs.
Really, though, I find this selfie craze to be overblown. Is there this deep abiding need to take a shot of yourself in a public restroom? While driving? Doing mundane things? A lot of it is simply inbred narcissism. Out somewhere cool? Great. Just took a dump and fixing your makeup? Come on, man.
Governments are actually having to take steps to protect people from themselves while taking selfies, with measures like awareness campaigns and fences. Let’s not forget that more people are actually bitten by sharks who don’t die, and that lots more people hurt themselves taking selfies than die. Is it worth it?
Hey, hold my beer and watch this…
So far this year about 28 police officers have been killed about the same as last year there has been no spike in killing
Of course 3 times that number killed themselves with their own gun
Should they be disarmed for their own safety?
So far this year about 28 police officers have been killed about the same as last year there has been no spike in killing
Little johnny is being disingenuous again. While there has been no increase (and in fact a decrease) in police deaths related to job activities, there has been a jump in deaths where police have been targeted by criminals.
Well john, most departments do have procedures on dealing with cops who exhibit instabilities which may lead to them taking their own lives. Are you against protecting the lives of people who are suffering mentally and emotionally? Or is your hatred of guns and cops such that you want to see cops dead and guns banned?
(BTW John, I hope you say that the nanny state created by Bloomberg suffered another setback today when a court ruled against the banning of certain containers for food.)
We do have a cop problem, I know of several people that have been beaten and abused by cops and the cop actions where not justified in any way. The problem is that these people are all white, so no one cares and it will not make the news. I also know that cops are profiling blacks, as many cops are my patients, but they profile them to stay away from them or let them go about their nefarious activities in order to not create a confrontation. Yet, blacks cause so much crime disproportionate to their representation in the population that they can not ignore all their activities. The actual numbers of cops killed is not significant when compared to previous periods, it is the social attitude that has been generated and the fact that a very dangerous portion of our population is being given the freedom to ignore the law and social norms. Cops are being targeted in an organized manner and there is a brazen disregard to law enforcement by certain elements. This can only end badly.
[…] The Pirate’s Cove: Â Which Killed More, Sharks Or Selfies? […]