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| Ignored facts still exist |
The crash was way in the southern part of Harney County Oregon --- a rural county with more Sq miles than New Jersey. Not sure if it would have mattered, but any kind of hospital is VERY FAR away from where they were. And unless they made prior arrangements, Life-Flight's response time to the scene would have been up to an hour. They are kind of between Boise and Reno, with Boise being a bit closer. Been in that area-- ain't nothing there. . | |||
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| Member |
I’d guess these adrenaline junkies (wingsuit flying, parachutist, salt flat drivers, etc.) might all have some relatively uncommon brain wiring connections that gives them some sort of high or rush that the vast majority of people would experience as fear. Thus they get something out of it that most people don’t and they take what everyone else would consider very risky chances. It’s intriguing to hear about their exploits when they succeed, but the occasional disaster just reinforces for me why I have no desire to fall out of a perfectly good airplane or jump the Grand Canyon on a motorcycle or go bungee jumping or any other activity where you don’t get a second chance when things don’t go right! | |||
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| Member |
Just speaking for myself, once I had survived the risk and danger involved in setting a jet powered speed record, that would be.... It! Done! No more! Lets someone else give it a shot. End of Earth: 2 Miles Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles | |||
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The Unmanned Writer |
She reminded me of something the coyote did when chasing roadrunner; strapped herself to a rocket engine, lit it, and splat. Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. "If dogs don't go to Heaven, I want to go where they go" Will Rogers The definition of the words we used, carry a meaning of their own... | |||
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A Grateful American |
I have mixed feelings on this. Having lost my father to such a thing, more than 60 years ago and also finding myself involved in a similar pursuit in my life. (drag racing) It is not a simple black and white argument. But then again, it is a simple black and white argument. Since it is somewhat a lifelong back and forth in my mind, and I have no desire to make it a "public" free for all. If anyone wants to take it to a longer and deeper discussion (that I believe is more likely to provide meaningful understanding and useful to others) email me. It is a dichotomy for me, and for a large part of my life, I felt my position was somewhat "waffling" or "wishy-washy", but I am more inclined to see it from both the "I yearn to do a thing/I loath to burden others with what my choices can leave them to deal with". And it is sometimes a troublesome thing to be in a confined place with such opposing views... But, then again, all of our choices of action in life are of such consequences and the impact to ourselves and others. Again, I am mixed on the manner of death of Jessi Combs, and the anguish to those whom she was closely integrated. I wish I could be black and white on it, but it is a struggle. "the meaning of life, is to give life meaning" ✡ Ani Yehudi אני יהודי Le'olam lo shuv לעולם לא שוב! | |||
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Member |
For good or bad, If certain folks did not "push the envelope" we would not be where we are today. My Native American Name: "Runs with Scissors" | |||
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| Member |
http://nautil.us/issue/39/spor...reatest-solo-climber From this article about the brain scan of Alex Honnold, the climber from "Free Solo": "Even to the untrained eye, the reason for her interest is clear. Joseph had used a control subject—a high-sensation-seeking male rock climber of similar age to Honnold—for comparison. Like Honnold, the control subject had described the scanner tasks as utterly unstimulating. Yet in the fMRI images of the two men’s responses to the high-arousal photographs, with brain activity indicated in electric purple, the control subject’s amygdala might as well be a neon sign. Honnold’s is gray. He shows zero activation... ...To see if she was somehow missing something, Joseph had tried dialing down the statistical threshold. She finally found a single voxel—the smallest volume of brain matter sampled by the scanner—that had lit up in the amygdala. By that point, though, real data was indistinguishable from error. “Nowhere, at a decent threshold, was there amygdala activation,” she says. Could the same be happening as Honnold climbs ropeless into situations that would cause almost any other person to melt down in terror? Yes, says Joseph—in fact, that’s exactly what she thinks is going on. Where there is no activation, she says, there probably is no threat response. Honnold really does have an extraordinary brain, and he really could be feeling no fear up there. None at all. None whatsoever." | |||
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Happily Retired |
And yet you have no problem judging those who choose not to be a risk taker. I've never considered myself as being boring or mundane for choosing a "safe" life. I've never worked in a cubicle but have sat on a couch many times. I've also hunted and fished my entire life and at 72 I keep a farm running. I guess not nearly as exciting as this lady but then, I'm still breathing. .....never marry a woman who is mean to your waitress. | |||
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| Member |
I knew a doctor years ago, a friend of the family, who had a very nice BMW motorcycle. He loved that bike. He didn't show it off and it wasn't a status thing for him, but he loved riding it. One day it was gone. I asked where it went. He said he sold it. I asked why. He told me he'd been riding on the highway, light traffic, early or late, and glanced down to find he was at some ridiculous speed. I forget the number, but it was fast enough. He said he throttled back, and turned around and went home, put the bike up for sale. He said that he realized in that moment that if he didn't pull the plug, he would keep going faster and faster and he knew how it would end. His cutoff switch was tripped; he was done. Most of us have a limit switch somewhere. Some don't. During a discussion about a colleague that was killed a few years ago in a spectacular, public, fiery crash, I heard a lot of "rest in peace." There was nothing peaceful about the way he went. Sprinkled amid the RIP's were the expected "at least he died doing something he loved." You mean he loved burning to death before he was ripped to pieces, I asked. No, he didn't. He didn't love dying. He loved his family. He loved what he did, but he didn't die loving to die. It was horrific, tragic, fast, violent. The pictures were on TV, online, and in the papers for his family to see. I doubt he'd have loved that. He certainly didn't plan for that. Just the job, working like everyone else, and like some professions, knowing that it meant he might not be home that night. We all die. I'd like to think that while most don't know how or when, the end would be quick and fairly painless, however unplanned it might be. | |||
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| Member |
Neither hunting nor fishing is "safe". Especially when you consider drowning is the 3rd leading cause of unintentional death in the US. Let that sink in (no pun intended), 3RD LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN THE USA....just going near the water is freaking dangerous! And hunting, let see, in the south you have Lyme disease, mosquito-transmitted viral encephalitis, snakes, not to mention just freaking falling. Point is, we ALL take risks that are unnecessary in the pursuit of "happiness" and recreation. Sure, strapping yourself to a vintage F104 engine to see how fast you can go is on the upper scales of risk and many love to point to how "stupid" it is, but then go out, climb on their horse for a nice ride.....and those beasts are just aching to kill or severely injure you. Rather than pointing out her stupidity for trying to set a world record, go out into your garage and look at all your "toys" that, even properly used, could result in death or permanent injury to you and ask your self, truthfully, "why do you do it?". Or, how about this, how many on this forum still, to this day, will drive their car after having consumed alcohol? Try to justify that, Combs only risked her life behind the wheel. | |||
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| Member |
Last nights local TV news had a story on her. She was born in the Black Hills, Rockerville, which isn't to far from Rapid City and attended HS there. First time after reading this thread that I had ever heard of her. Jim | |||
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Alea iacta est |
Yes, as far as you’re concerned, she threw away her life. Personally, I wouldn’t risk my life to drive a jet powered car. Heck, I had the opportunity to take a 1500 hp car down the drag strip. I politely declined. My 400 hp car was plenty, and it wasn’t worth the risk to me. There was an American girl that was silly enough to go stand in front of an Israeli Military bulldozer in the West Bank and was crushed and killed. I think she died a senseless death and she could have avoided it. Others will say she was standing up for a cause and died with honor. It’s perspective. Anytime someone dies, it’s a tragedy. I have seen many programs with Jessi and she seemed to be a bright young woman with a great personality and a need for adrenaline. I agree that “died doing what they love” is a stupid thing to say. It’s also a perspective and most likely a coping mechanism for people who cannot deal with or face death head on. I also think saying that someone “threw away their life” is a rather harsh statement. It’s your opinion that she threw it away. I’m sure she didn’t want to die. I’m also fairly certain she knew the risks of what she was doing. It may be selfish, but I am sure many around her wouldn’t say she wasted, or threw away her life. It’s all about perspective brother.
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Certified All Positions |
These stunts are just going to get more extreme, because it boils down to entertainment for people. Bummer she died, but painting it as heroic or even necessary is stupid. I do agree that the phrase "died doing what they loved" can rarely be applied appropriately, if at at. It's not actually all that thoughtful a thing to say. She was no Chuck Yeager. Arc. ______________________________ "Like a bitter weed, I'm a bad seed"- Johnny Cash "I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel." - Pee Wee Herman Rode hard, put away wet. RIP JHM "You're a junkyard dog." - Lupe Flores. RIP | |||
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| You're going to feel a little pressure... |
I am a nurse. I went to work in the ER because I wanted to help people in the worst moments of their life. I wanted to do it because I could and because not everyone can, so I feel that I should. I left a Level II Trauma center because "I want to go where the helicopters take people" instead of loading them in and wondering how they turned out. So, I went to one of the busiest Level I Trauma centers in the country. It was unbelievably hard but I could do it and not everyone can so I should. I wanted to push myself to the limits of my ability, personally and professionally. So, instead of taking patients from the helicopter crews, I wanted to be in the helicopter and to go get them. Again, not everyone can do it, I could, so I should. I got a job in the helicopter. It was risky. I lost some friends. I had a few close calls myself. I never sought risk but pushing the limits of my profession was inherently dangerous. The danger was incidental to the job but undeniable, after a time. I quit it when I became a husband and a father. I made the choice of my family over everyone else's and also over my personal desires. I get it when other people choose SWAT, or SEALs, or PJs and accept that their life may be forfeit because they can do things other people can't or won't. It makes me sad when we lose them but I am glad that, however briefly, they showed us what humans can accomplish, when they refuse to compromise. I compromised. I'm good with that. Bruce "The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free." -Niccolo Machiavelli The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken | |||
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| Freethinker |
As I mentioned in another thread why would anyone want to die doing what they “loved”? If they loved doing things in life, wouldn’t they want to continue doing them for as long as possible? To cite just one example, I like shooting and despite aging issues that make it less satisfying than it was at one time, I want to continue doing it for as long as possible. That means I won’t engage in James Yeagerist activities like standing downrange between targets as others are shooting. Sure, that’s exciting, “pushing the envelope,” and might enhance my reputation for fearlessness—at least in my own mind—but it also makes it far more likely that very quickly and suddenly I will be unable to do that and everything else I enjoy. And in fact none of these people actually die doing what they love—unless they “love” the sensations of being subjected to high G forces and having their bodies ripped apart by contact with the earth or sharp bits of glass and metal. Is it over quickly? Yes, but it’s not what they “loved” or started out to enjoy that day. Again, I don’t begin to care how people kill themselves unless they endanger or inconvenience others, but ignoring reality and setting up straw men and false dichotomies doesn’t justify anything. ► 6.0/94.0 I can tell at sight a Chassepot rifle from a javelin. | |||
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| Member |
I would argue just the opposite. With safety and technology these "stunts" are actually safer. Craig Breedlove's 600 mph car in 1964 was way more dangerous than Combs', just in tire technology and safety features. I remember going fast on bias belted tires....with lap belts....YIKES! Of all the dumb shit I have done, truly the scariest thing was doing 80 MPH in a 38' Fountain in Biscayne Bay (and I was just a passenger). It is with any "risk" sport. Would any of you skiers use boots from 1945 to go down a black diamond course? I would not even consider cave diving with dive gear from the mid 60's yet there were guys pushing some big caves back then. I would also argue the Comb's "stunt" was far from entertainment, considering it was not televised or even promoted. | |||
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Bad dog! |
If our bodiea are our own, to do with as we choose, then her death was simply her choice to put her body at great risk. How different is that, essentially, from deciding that you want to consume large quantities of sugar, white flour, fat, and other unhealthy foods that will slowly kill you? If you argue that no one can tell you what to eat, it's your choice, then in a similar way it is logical to extend that freedom to everyone else, whether it be dietary choices, or buckling into a jet powered car, or jumping off a cliff in a wing suit. Why would slowly killing yourself, overeating Doritos and Twinkies and sitting on a sofa, be the only acceptable way to die doing what you love? I have a fast car, and I take it out on tracks at high speed-- along with my son, who also gets behind the wheel. And I've done other things that some people might consider very dangerous. Jessi knew the dangers, and chose to take the risks-- just as, I would guess, most of us here have done at one time or another. It is either her body, her life, and her choice, or we all need to be constantly deferring to what others think we can and can't be allowed to do. I see no reason to ridicule and belittle her. Especially because having driven a car at high speed I know I would shit myself at 400+ mph. ______________________________________________________ "You get much farther with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone." | |||
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| Peace through superior firepower  |
Please tell me how taking an old jet in 2019 and driving it at 400 miles an hour across salt flats advances civilization in any way. It's preposterous, guys. Come on. Speaking in generalities does not justify the needless death of someone who was doing a thing for their self which got them killed, and neither does pointing out the obvious need for advancement of mankind. She advanced nothing, did nothing which has not already been done, except go a bit faster- in conditions which offer nothing new in the way of research. All of a sudden, this TV personality is a dedicated research scientist sacrificing herself for the good of mankind. Jeez Louise!  | |||
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| Peace through superior firepower |
The answer, of course, is that it's nonsensical blather which people now seem to utter automatically. It's trite and hackneyed. You want to honor a person's life? Then, for God's sake, stop saying that empty shit. | |||
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Get Off My Lawn |
Never heard of her. But from a simpleton's perspective (me), seems like she was trying to drive a jet plane with wheels on the ground. At 500 MPH. Seems like so many variables involved; mechanics, physics, environment, surface imperfections, etc. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen. And it eventually did. "I’m not going to read Time Magazine, I’m not going to read Newsweek, I’m not going to read any of these magazines; I mean, because they have too much to lose by printing the truth"- Bob Dylan, 1965 | |||
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