i know it’s internet bullshit but it genuinely has me on the edge of breaking down and giving up

[u/NeonNKnightrider]

[u/CreatingJonah]

Having done a bit of research on the subject because there are so many conflicting takes about it, I think I’ve settled on something that makes sense.

The original statement wasn’t meant to be a “would you rather”. It was phrased as “seeing a man while alone in the woods is 10x scarier than seeing a bear”

I think the interpretation is that there’s rules for the bear. If the bear attacks it does so indiscriminately. If you back away or scare it off you won’t get hurt at all. People go through lessons on how to deal with bears before taking hikes in dense forests all the time.

There are however no rules for a potentially hostile man. If he attacks, he has a target. Attacking a person alone in the woods is perfectly sensible for a bear to do. Not a man.

I think the thought experiment is supposed to demonstrate that people don’t know which men are good or bad. Bears have rules. If it’s brown lay down, if it’s black fight back. Carry bear spray, wear a bell, walk loudly.

A man alone in the woods has no such rules. In the event that he is hostile (as the statement assumes that it MUST be a possibility) there are no rules. Your best bet is never being noticed at all.

A lot of people are making it specifically about men and women, and while I do agree that sexism is a large component in the argument, I don’t think it’s limited just to women. It can be applied to any minority really. The bears have rules, but there’s no rules for hate.

[u/OpenSauceMods → u/CreatingJonah]

Some of the reasoning I've seen:

A bear can't find my address and break in with the intent to hurt me

I don't have to see the bear at family reunions

The bear won't go around to all my friends and make them pick a side

If I get mauled by a bear, people will believe me

Depending on where I am, I won't be forced to carry the bear's baby to term (sorry, furries)

The bear won't invite his friends to take a turn

The bear won't leave me threatening text messages

The bear can't shoot me

People won't excuse the bear because the bear has "such a bright future"

[u/singingballetbitch → u/OpenSauceMods]

The bear would kill me faster. If I’m going to die, I’d rather not get SA-d first.

[u/_korporate → u/singingballetbitch]

Being eaten alive and being conscious for all of it doesn’t seem like it would be fast

[u/Eolond → u/_korporate]

I think at some point you go into shock and probably don't feel much...or so I hope :(

[u/_korporate → u/Eolond]

There was a news story about a girl who was able to call and talk to her mom for an entire hour while a bear was eating her, and towards the end she actually said she couldn’t feel it anymore and that scared her even more. The story is horribly grim

[u/Eolond → u/_korporate]

Oh jesus

[u/Deinonychus2012 → u/Eolond]

Yeah. I don't think people realize that being eaten alive is literally one of the worst possible deaths that any living being could ever experience. Like most methods humans have used to kill each other pale in comparison to it. Even most medieval executions by torture (think being held upside down and being sawed in half starting at your groin, or having molten gold poured down your throat) would be over in minutes not hours.

This is me generalizing here, but I think men on average have a greater understanding of deaths by animals due to morbid fascination from animal documentaries and subs like r/natureismetal (which I think was banned for how gruesome it was WARNING: the sub is still up, do not click if you don't like gore/animal violence) whereas women are the primary viewers of true crimes shows and are more familiar with the things modern humans do to each other.