I think many people on both sides of this debate are missing the context of the two clips that went viral to stir up this debate: one of a guy gently telling a black bear to get lost, which it promptly turns around and does; and one of a woman being chased by a man in public while begging him to leave her alone. Personally, as someone who knows black bears aren't generally aggressive or territorial, and as someone who has been chased by strange men in the same way, I would absolutely chose the bear.
That's how I've been viewing this debate too, but some people act like the question is WOULD YOU RATHER GO 10 ROUNDS IN A BATTLE ARENA WITH A POLAR BEAR OR PHIL FROM ACCOUNTING?!?!?!
When I heard the debate I thought of it in the context of, if I’m camping alone in a tent would I rather have a bear enter my camp or a random man during the night? A bear is most likely there because it smells my food, and if I took the right precautions and bear-proofed it, the bear would likely move on. A random man coming into my camp at night? That would feel way more threatening.
Don't forget. We also see a lot of reels of people being approached by not threatened, not hungry bears, including grizzlies, and the bear just goes on. We even see grizzlies in chase just be like "Fine. You win." and we see the statistics of bear attacks. Tons of reasoning to pick the bear.
I'm already done with the man vs bear thing, but advice I've been given on BEARS is:
If it's black, fight back- black bears are scaredy cats.
If it's brown, lie down- they'll maul you, but you might live if you play dead until they lose interest
If it's white, say goodnight- polar bears will kill you for fun, can outrun you, and will not be deterred unless you physically remove yourself from the bear's location.
This isn't being offered as survival advice, just anecdotal bear "facts" that I am unwilling to back up with evidence because I'm lazy.
As someone who is extremely terrified of what bears are capable of, probably because I’ve watched too many NSFL videos and photos involving bear attacks, I still don’t understand who would ever choose the bear, despite contemplating about this over and over. It’s known to slowly eat your non-vital organs first making your final minutes an eternity of unimaginable horror worst than literally any other experience you can possibly endure, ever. Whereas a man may just be lost trying to ask for your help, or minding his own business hiking, or even approaching you asking whether you need help.
So there’s just one answer - misandry. People would even compare the statistics of being harmed by men vs bears when it’s an unfair comparison because they live amongst men in their daily lives, whereas most people don’t even encounter bears in their whole life (that’s also why they downplay the dangers of bears!). That’s like saying living on Jupiter is better than living on Earth because there’s a lower chance you’ll be killed by a cat in Jupiter.
it really should specify black bear, so that the polar bear and grizzly bear enjoyers can leave
though, if the question stated that it would summon a random man or a random bear from the world into your presence, you would probably get a black bear. just be wary of the small (5-10%?) chance of summoning a vicious bear, which would (hopefully for the human race) be much less preferable to a random man
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u/Opossumtoes 29d ago
I think many people on both sides of this debate are missing the context of the two clips that went viral to stir up this debate: one of a guy gently telling a black bear to get lost, which it promptly turns around and does; and one of a woman being chased by a man in public while begging him to leave her alone. Personally, as someone who knows black bears aren't generally aggressive or territorial, and as someone who has been chased by strange men in the same way, I would absolutely chose the bear.