Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
We make trade-offs between safety, fun, and convenience every day. If all we cared about was maximising safety, we would walk and drive around in helmets all the time.
The thing is, people don't examine those trade-offs on any sort of statistical basis. They make them on the basis of social norms, and how common an activity is. Tobogganing isn't that common, so it's easy enough to say 'people should always wear helmets tobogganing.' Same with cycling. But walking? Driving a car? Most people do that all the time. They don't want to wear a helmet driving to work or walking across a mall parking lot. So they ignore any risk in those activities.
So we're agreed that wearing helmets tobogganing should be discretionary and a matter of judgement.
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I never said that it shouldn't be discretionary. I also never said that the maximization of safety is the only concern. I just think it is stupid to blanket dismiss anyone's safety choices as pussification. Nobody knows anyone else's family or medical history. It is almost as stupid as pointing to individual preferences on the matter as being the decider and then deriding those who choose differently than you do. If you get your choice then everyone else gets theirs, too.