‘Selfie epidemic’: How Israeli teenager fell to his death in Yosemite

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/03/31/yosemite-man-died-after-hanging-off-cliff-to-get-dramatic-photograph/

by hanging • 7 years ago

5 2 7 years ago

I hate to sound frivolous about someone's death but I have a gripe with the title: This was not technically a selfie attempt.

wahern• 7 years ago

"Ghiglieri said one difficult lesson from the tragedy, and the trend of risky photos worldwide, is that people should refuse requests to take dangerous photos when they are asked. 'In a common-sense way,' he said, 'many of these accidents could not happen without that assistance.'"

I'm curious what the numbers actually are--true selfies vs engaging bystanders. Perhaps people aware of these selfie stories think they're taking less risk with a bystander, missing the forest for the trees.

Not sure there's any fixing this problem, though, short of changing norms. People like this seem to fundamentally lack the necessary fear (or even capacity for fear)[1], so it's up to everybody else to save them from themselves. I have two small children--one is daring but cautious (internalizes lessons from accidents quickly), the other is oblivious to danger and remains so no matter how many accidents. Neither seem to be thrill junkies or particularly impetuous, thankfully, which are similarly difficult dispositions to address.

[1] They may be fearful of other things, just not fearful of the stuff that can actually kill you.

‘Selfie epidemic’: How Israeli teenager fell to his death in Yosemite

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