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Some woman on the internet said she would feel safer spending a night in the woods with a random bear rather than with a random man

    • roscoe@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      4 months ago

      The thing these arguments never take into account is a fate worse than death.

      That’s the point you’re missing.

      Think about why someone would prefer the much more likely bear mauling to the much less likely worst case scenario with a man. If you can wrap your head around that, then consider why these women had that answer ready to go with very little thought. Considerations of a fate worse than death is something that women live with from the age where they first notice grown men noticing them. That averages 11 or 12 years old by the way. Maybe younger if their parents were a little more candid with them than the generic “stranger danger.”

      • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        4 months ago

        Think about why someone would prefer the much more likely bear mauling to the much less likely worst case scenario with a man.

        the only reason i can think why someone would take that decision, is that they have no apriori knowledge of the situation, and simply assume something they have no knowledge about is going to be easier than that that they do have knowledge about. (which is often naive)

        Or, and this is my theory, this is actually one big metaphor about the problems modern society faces, and it’s not actually based on rational thought or decision making, and it’s supposed to be, because the point is to point out the problem as i already stated. The question that leaves is why nobody seems to be talking about the fundamental underlying problem, and instead seems to be talking about bears.

        I get it, there’s a problem with this shit in society, why aren’t we talking about it? Like if you want to make change happen, to improve society, we need to sit down and have a two sided discussion, instead of saying that you would prefer to be eaten by a bear, than be around a man “because a thing could potentially happen” this accomplishes almost nothing unfortunately.

        Anyway, that’s my current theory, maybe i’m wrong as fuck, idk, i’m welcome to any ideas, i don’t understand why people keep talking about this the way that they are so i could use some background info (and don’t tell me that it’s because men sometimes rape women, and women don’t like being around men as a result, i understand what the thought experiment is for, you don’t need to explain that part to me, unless i’m wrong about it and misunderstand it lol.)

      • Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz
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        4 months ago

        I knew I had to have the talk about men when my girls turned nine. They were playing basketball and one of the dads made a comment about a girl and said “she is going to grow up and look like Mia Kalif (I don’t know how to spell her name, the porn star) and be a hot piece of ass.”

        Oh, yeah…you mean that nine year old? The fuck is wrong with you.

  • Landsharkgun@midwest.social
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    4 months ago

    Are we talking brown bears or black bears?

    Brown bears are violently territorial and will attack you for being in eyeshot.

    Black bears are basically giant racoons and will move away from people - especially if you’re making loud noises and making yourself look big - because they don’t want that smoke. They’ll only get aggressive if you surprise them or get anywhere near their younglings.

    I’d probably take a black bear over a lot of dudes. As long as we got a good hundred feet or so of distance, Mr Bear and I ain’t gonna bother each other.

    • Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz
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      4 months ago

      I was in the smoky mountains with my kids camping, and we heard a bear digging around. My kids started crying, they for sure knew they were dead.

      I got out of the tent, stomped my feet so the bear heard me and wasn’t startled, and then went “boogaaboogaaa” and raised my arms. Poor little black bear went running off and kept looking back.

      And my kids had a really cool story about when their dad chased away a giant scary bear.

    • radiofreeval [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      4 months ago

      Brown bears aren’t human killing machines. They adjust their territory not to see people. Bears in general stay away from people and don’t care enough to attack.

    • Soulcreator@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Totally agreed, the question is so vague it’s absurd. Are we talking a panda or a grizzly? Is the man a locked-in paraplegic or an violent ex con?

      Regardless how you answer there’s always another possibility that makes your decision look stupid.

      • inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Yeah but that’s a different scenario all togther. Not all men are dangerous rapists, obviously. But enough are prone to assault and SA that it’s statistically safer to have some random bear (possibly grizzly or teddy) than some random man. If you don’t feel like the random guy walking down the street is dangerous, that’s probably because random men on the street don’t regularly harass you, which is unfortunately still a very common occurance to most women.

        • Soulcreator@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          While I understand and respect your viewpoint, I’m not quite sure you understand what I’m saying here… The question is designed to be a no win scenario, it’s phrased in such a vague way that no matter how you answer someone else can chime in and say oh no, your not imagining the terrible scenario I’m imagining. There’s literally no way of answering it in a way that someone is going to chime in and tell your wrong.

          It’s literally designed to be a test designed to gauge your reaction more than it is to be answered seriously.

          Without more info one can’t possibly respond in a legitimate manner. And any responses without additional information is more of a mirror to your own personal disposition and fears than it is a legitimate response to the question.

  • SharkEatingBreakfast@sopuli.xyz
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    4 months ago

    Context: Some woman on the internet said she would feel safer spending a night in the woods with a random bear rather than with a random man

    Some woman

    Not “some woman” — quite a few women. Lots of women.

      • lud@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        Really? What people do you usually hang around with?

        Bears are incredibly strong and dangerous and will kill you just for fun.

        I would honestly prefer a random man to a fucking moose.

        • SuperSaiyanSwag@lemmy.zip
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          4 months ago

          Man is more unpredictable than bear. I know A bear can kill me, but I have no idea what a random man has in mind for me.

          • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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            4 months ago

            This has a strong “at least they’re honest about wanting to kill me!” energy lol.

            Or maybe the whole thing is a joke. I honestly can’t tell

          • berkeleyblue@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            Bear: Couldn’t tell you what he’s up to even if it wanted to

            Men: Can actually listen and talk their intentions.

            Why is a man less predictable in this case? You all just claim things without the slightest bit of argument behind it… so please tell my why that would be the case.

            Thanks.

          • lud@lemm.ee
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            4 months ago

            Sure. I guess it depends on what odds you are comfortable with. I prefer the very small odds of something worse than death or anything happing at all with Man than the high odds of death with a bear.

            • SuperSaiyanSwag@lemmy.zip
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              4 months ago

              Where are you getting these odds from? For how many people live in bear regions, go camping/hunting/biking etc, there have not been that many bear attacks. Source

              • lud@lemm.ee
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                4 months ago

                From this scenario I’m obviously assuming you have to be close to the bear for the entire day.

                It’s not like the bear/man is at the other side of the forest.

                And as to where I got my odds from? Well out of my ass. There are no statistics on this extremely specific scenario.

      • Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz
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        4 months ago

        Because a nice bear is going to ask for consent, and might snuggle you and…wait. What kind of bear are we talking about?

    • beardown@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      Some woman on the internet said she would feel safer spending a night in the woods with a random bear rather than with a random black man

      Changes their answers considerably

    • Darkenfolk@dormi.zone
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      4 months ago

      But at least I could reason with a bear.

      Sure you can Steve Irwin, I somehow doubt that the bear can reason with you though.

  • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    4 months ago

    well, after having thought about it for hours. And i really mean hours (please help me, also don’t mind me, i’m just autistic as fuck and think about these sorts of things a lot)

    I have finally put together my ultimate conclusion on this topic. And it is as follows:

    For starters, why am i in the woods? Presumably in this example i was just teleported out there at random, with one other entity, either a human or a bear. Now idk much about bear psychology, but if i were a bear, and a human popped up out of nowhere in front of me, i would lose my shit. So chances are im probably going to die.

    As for a human, assuming a statistically random sample from the world, lets assume for the sake of this example, someone from within the same geographical area that i am in, because it makes logical sense for the statement here. The chances of them being 1. significant deviant enough that the second they see me, and decide they want to be a problem, is low enough that i’m willing to take it. Paired with the fact that often times abusers and rapists tend to be people you already know (it’s just a basic fun fact about being around people) and in this case, it’s probably someone i’ve never seen before, much less interacted with. I’m assuming the chances of me getting my shit fucked up are probably between 0-5% i feel like that’s pretty reasonable. i can’t imagine much more than like 10% of any given western population are active rapists. So we’ll go with that. And like i said the bear? Probably going to flip it’s shit. And even if it doesn’t it’s still gotta be higher than 10% i would assume.

    Now, moving on to the secondary factors, we’re lost in a forest. The very obvious factor here is that being there with another individual greatly increases your odds of being found/getting out, both due to collective knowledge accumulation between the two of you, and the likelihood that other people realize you’re gone being twice as high (roughly) but we won’t consider that aspect significant. So moving back to the productive aspects of having two people. Assuming we’re the female in this case, and the other person is a male, as per the statement rules. That means we have someone who is more likely to be stronger, and more capable of exerting themselves, which could prove useful in a situation like this. However more people is still more better, so we’ll say about a 100% productivity bonus just to be safe here. As aforementioned, we have a secondary source of knowledge here, so we can collectively decide on things, as well as think about them, which often leads to more correct/better solutions/outcomes. As well as the obvious benefit of having someone to socialize with, this is a natural morale booster. Humans are social creatures. Nuff said.

    One more thing though, since we’ve established that there are potential benefits to this situation, we must now compare those benefits to the downsides of the other situation, so let’s do that

    • being alone (having no additional help, assuming we aren’t immediately mauled and eaten by the bear)
    • not being alone (the likely potential that you DO get help, and quite significant amounts of it, with the small additional chance of being raped and killed) Ok i think that pretty much sums it up.

    Alright, now moving on to the tertiary aspects of this, let’s modify the original statement. And say that we didn’t just randomly teleport, and that we walked into the woods with someone else (we aren’t counting kidnapping because then this statement wouldn’t really apply would it?) Anyway, now that we’ve pulled foul play off of the table. You’re walking into the forest with someone you probably already know, or someone who you’ve gotten to know thus far. They aren’t a stranger or at the very least, not a complete stranger, presumably you don’t just wander into the forest randomly for no reason, so lets assume you’re going on a hike or something. It’s good exercise after all, so for one thing, you’ve got some level of equipment with you. Probably some level of self defense capability (depending on where you are and how much you care) you did not come into this with the intent of being lost, and you are with someone that you know.

    I feel like i don’t have to expand on why picking the bear in this option would be a bad choice…

    alright, that concludes my lengthy essay on my opinion of this “thought experiment” feel free to yell at me or whatever, or engage with this, i probably missed something. New information always adds to the fun :) The whole point of a thought experiment is trying out new thoughts and weird ideas after all. Also just for the record, since some of you are probably curious. I have no opinion about these sorts of situations what so ever, because they aren’t real, and don’t exist, so the only valuable thing i can glean from them is through stats and situational analysis.

  • Leon_Frotsky [she/her, undecided]@hexbear.net
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    4 months ago

    I’m incredibly bear pilled ngl, as long as I stay a decent distance from it and don’t do anything dumb I’ll be fine, with a random guy idk what might happen, there’s no certain set of rules to follow to get me out of the situation safely - I’ll probably be with a perfectly normal well adjusted guy or I might be with some super transphobe who sees a small visibly trans girl alone in the woods away from all civilisation with no witnesses or some incel who sees his opportunity to get some, regardless of consent. In the bear scenario, all of the power is in my hands to just make sure that I don’t do anything dumb and as long as I don’t I’ll be fine, in the man scenario I just have to trust the luck of the draw to give me a decent man to be alone in the woods with.

    • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      Right, this is what folks aren’t understanding.

      Yes a big ass bear is clearly more dangerous but like in reality the random man is much more variable and there are WAY more examples of what we’re capable of as opposed to what a bear does.

      A bears nature is understood.

      • OurToothbrush@lemmy.ml
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        4 months ago

        Yes a big ass bear is clearly more dangerous

        If it is a black bear, which 99 percent of the time it would be, nah, the man is more dangerous. Black bears are scaredy cats.

    • lud@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      Yes, the safety guidelines are not being close to a bear.

  • apotheotic (she/her)@beehaw.org
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    4 months ago

    I am unironically bearpilled in this context. Men can be fucking scary with women. At least I’m unlikely to be SA’d before I die, with the bear.

    • liuther9@feddit.nl
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      4 months ago

      Why by default man is a serial killer and sa? What are the odds that dude is a psycho? What are the odds that bear is a killer? Do you understand how hard it is psychologically to murder someone if you are a normal person?

      • apotheotic (she/her)@beehaw.org
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        4 months ago

        The man is not “by default” a serial killer and sa, its just a possibility I don’t want to entertain.

        And yes, hello, I am normal person. I understand how hard it is psychologically to murder someone. I also know how hard it is psychologically to SA someone. And yet…

        This is a “this is the option I would take” situation. I didn’t insult anyone, I didn’t say YOU have to take the bear. If you disagree, that’s perfectly okay, but you can’t tell me how I should feel, despite many men thinking that’s acceptable.

        • liuther9@feddit.nl
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          4 months ago

          Typical woman putting words in my mouth. I am not planning to change your pov bur want to understand the logic behind it

        • apotheotic (she/her)@beehaw.org
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          4 months ago

          Are you referring to me? I wouldn’t touch tiktok with a 10 foot pole, or any of the infinite scroll short form video things for that matter. I’m not on twitter either. Or tumblr.

          My POV is based on my personal experience and the experiences of women around me. And statistics!

      • Enkrod@feddit.de
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        4 months ago

        Odds of a sexual abuser need not be high for the man, they’re simply 0% for the bear.

    • beardown@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      Weird that you’re so afraid of black men that you’d prefer a bear over them.

      This is how George Floyd happens

  • ekZepp@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Genderes are a problem, races are a problem, creeds are a problem, sports preferences are a problem, anything will do… as long as we stay divided and subjugated.

    • Mubelotix@jlai.luOP
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      4 months ago

      Yes, and this whole story shows how far we are going. Society isn’t doing well at all