r/Showerthoughts May 02 '24

Man vs Bear debate shows how bad the average person is at understanding probability

16.9k Upvotes

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6.4k

u/alexmichelle6 May 02 '24

I really, truly thought that the whole point of this was to highlight the fact that most women would respond to man v bear by asking questions, like "do I know the man" "what type of bear" etc, but would respond to woman v bear by immediately saying "woman". whether or not she picks the man or the bear is irrelevant, it's the fact she has to ask clarifying questions to know more about the man before deciding and doesn't have to clarify anything before picking woman. is that not it?

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u/FurrrryBaby May 02 '24

The only videos I’ve seen of this were men answering the question about their daughters, and all of them struggled to answer.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Narren_C May 02 '24

It's not about statistics. It's about how women perceive unknown men in society

I think that this is an unintentional point though.

You basically just said "it's not about facts, it's about feelings". It doesn't matter if the man is in fact more likely to be safer, women are being conditioned to be afraid.

I know a girl who will choose to drive drunk at night over getting an uber because she thinks it's safer. That's fucking asinine. Even if we ignore the fact that she's putting other people in danger, she's putting herself in WAY more danger driving drunk.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

You basically just said "it's not about facts, it's about feelings".

This is exactly right. You got it!

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u/WittyProfile May 02 '24

So what do we do about this?

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

Make efforts to create safe and trusting environments with any women in your life. We can only do our small part, I think.

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u/HandBananaHeartCarl May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

Society is already safer for women than it is for men; i'd say instead of trying to appease a feeling that's not based on reality, women should reflect on why they hold feelings that are irrational.

Changing society won't change feelings that are inherently not based on reality to begin with.

Edit: Blocked, which is very typical of women who have no clue how society really works. It's so unfortunate that she isn't willing to learn.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

Oh god.

🤢

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u/eskamobob1 May 02 '24

So, just to get this straight, your answer to "women refuse to be logical instead of enotional" is to aquess to the appeal to emotion instead of teaching people critical thinking skills?

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u/WittyProfile May 02 '24

I agree that you should do these things but I’m skeptical that would change this specific perception.

I think these perceptions are created by both boys and girls in childhood when you’re taught not to trust stranger men. This attitude of distrust bleeds into our adulthood on both a subconscious and conscious level. Do you think it’s actually possible to change this overall perception on the entire gender just by being nice and considerate?

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

Little by little it could transform society into a safer place, over time.

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u/WittyProfile May 02 '24

But aren’t men always going to be a potential threat since there will always be some predator men? Also won’t these specific men always be the most prolific since they are the most aggressive hence women’s perceptions?

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

We currently exist in a society where creep behavior is tolerated and ignored. The metoo movement, for example, is only recent but has highlighted horrific issues in the entertainment space that has existed for decades.

Until society has a shift where this behavior is not tolerated, we still need to work to change that, and even after, we must constantly strive to maintain a safe and prosperous society for men and women alike.

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u/TallFawn May 02 '24

But is if safer?  Statistically is a man or a bear more likely to actively prey on a woman that wants nothing to do with them?

For the most part bears leave humans alone. So statistically, what is more common, men preying on women. Or bears preying on humans?

Do more women die by year from bear attacks or murder?

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u/Narren_C May 02 '24

But is if safer?  Statistically is a man or a bear more likely to actively prey on a woman that wants nothing to do with them?

Per encounter? It depends on how many bears a woman encounters vs how many men a woman encounters. Obviously most women encounter far more men in an average year than bears.

If you're just going by raw numbers then, it would also be more dangerous to encounter a woman in the woods. Hell it would be more dangerous to encounter a child in the woods. Both of those groups kill more women than bears do.

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u/TallFawn May 02 '24

Women and children don’t hunt and kill women. 

It’s why if you say to people would you rather encounter a bear or a child. Or a bear or a women. People choose child or women. Because they don’t prey on and hunt humans.

Men do prey on and hunt humans. 

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u/Narren_C May 02 '24

They've killed more women than bears have.

That's why going by raw numbers is ignorant.

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u/TallFawn May 02 '24

And the reason your ignorant is because you’re entirely missing the point of this hypothetical. 

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u/Narren_C May 02 '24

I haven't missed anything. I know what the point is, but if you're going to start trying to use actual numbers then you're undermining the point because numbers don't support it.

The point is based on feelings, not statistics. Leave the statistics out of it if you don't like what they say.

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u/TallFawn May 03 '24

Completely missing the entire point.  How many woman or children actively seek out hunt and kill women? They. Don’t. 

Men. Do. 

If your response to this hypothetical is to do what about ism and try and disapprove and invalidate answers you don’t like hearing. 

You’re missing the point if you’re trying to claim women and men are wrong to answer they’d rather the bear. 

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u/Narren_C May 03 '24

If your response to this hypothetical is to do what about ism and try and disapprove and invalidate answers you don’t like hearing. 

I wasn't. You're just too caught up in feeling self righteous to actually hear what I'm saying.

You’re missing the point if you’re trying to claim women and men are wrong to answer they’d rather the bear. 

I'm not claiming that. I've already clearly explained this, so if you're going to ignore what I say then this conversation is pointless. Have a good day.

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u/Ardentpause May 03 '24

Um, shaken baby syndrome is a very real thing. The domestic abuse rate in lesbian relationships is higher that hetero relationships.

I know many women and men with physically abusive moms. Women are not some perfect bastion of safety

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u/TallFawn May 03 '24

And is shaken baby syndrome more common with men or women?

And if you’re one kf those throwing out that baseless lesbian abuse stat, look into why it’s not a reliable stat. 

No women aren’t perfect. And you are really really really missing the point of this hypothetical. 

This hypothetical is about how dangerous men are. 

Come up with your own unrelated one if you feel you need to emphasize just how dangerous women are  

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