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From: tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith)
Newsgroups: net.jokes.d
Subject: Re: Perspective
Message-ID: <611@ism780c.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 11-Feb-86 21:38:13 EST
Article-I.D.: ism780c.611
Posted: Tue Feb 11 21:38:13 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 14-Feb-86 06:02:27 EST
References: <1814@trwrba.UUCP>
Reply-To: tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith)
Organization: Interactive Systems Corp., Santa Monica, CA
Lines: 42

In article <1814@trwrba.UUCP> suhre@trwrba.UUCP (Maurice E. Suhre) writes:
>
>I've been watching the shuttle jokes/debates going past and I think there
>is a certain lack of perspective.  Just ask yourself the following
>questions (and estimate the answers).
>
>	1.  How many people die every day on the freeways/hiways
>	    in the US?
>	2.  How many teenagers die of drug overdose every day?
>	    Or in traffic accidents with drugs and/or alcohol
>	    being a significant factor?
>	3.  How many women die as a result of illegal abortions?
>	4.  How many people die in Shuttle accidents every day?

If you assume that all people are worth the same, then the shuttle
explosion is not that big a tragedy in terms of lost life.

In the long run, Mankind ( no flames because I didn't say Man/Womenkind
or Personkind, please! ) could benefit geatly from the increased use of
space, but it will take several years for this to happen.  Thus todays
astronauts are taking great risks to bring about a better world, a world
that they themselves will probably not live to see.

Contrast this to your average Usenet reader.  Taking myself as an example,
I am taking almost no risk to bring about a better Unix for the 80286.
Somehow, I doubt that this will bring about a better world. :-)

On the other hand, I think I am probably more useful to Mankind than
someone who is about to die of a drug overdose, or the average women
who dies from an illegal abortion.

Thus, if I hear about an astronaut dying, and two or three random 
USENET readers dying, I will feel a greater sense of loss over 
the astronaut.  And if someone from the net dies, and the same 
day I hear that two or three addicts died, I will feel more 
sorrow over the person from the net.  I think many people feel 
the same as I do, and this is why the shuttle explosion is 
considered such a tragedy, even though "only" seven people died.  

Oh well, time to put on the heat shield....
-- 
Tim Smith       sdcrdcf!ism780c!tim || ima!ism780!tim || ihnp4!cithep!tim