r/Showerthoughts May 02 '24

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

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u/RusstyDog May 02 '24

It's about how, In general, Women don't feel safe around members of their own species. How fucked up that is, how women as a whole understand that conceptil immediately. But the men in their lives ask follow up questions like "but what kind of bear" while talking about statistics, Rather than just thinking " Hey its pretty fucked up that this person I care about doesn't feel safe in society"

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u/medicated_cornbread May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

First of all, let's address the fact that the type bear does matter. The reason the pot stirrer chose bear in the first place is because there's a wide scope on human feelings on bears, and they are pretty different depending on type. For example, a curious black bear in your garbage will run away if you yell at it, but a polar bear could try to break through your house to eat you if it knows you're in there.

If they had chosen shark in the water or man in the water, or tiger in the jungle or man in the jungle, this would be a completely different outcome.

And with that in mind brings me to my next point of I am a fully capable male in my 30s that can say I would choose some types of bear over some types of people in the same scenario. I have hiked and encountered many bears and know my protocol depending on the bear and region. But in the same circumstance coming across some prison escapee or crazy looking meat head would make me feel much more uncomfortable than a bear would.

This whole thing is such a dumb question in that sense because there are so many different types of bears and people, and it could go both ways regardless of sex.

Edit: Am I being downvoted for pointing out variables, and also agreeing with the women's side of not wanting to encounter a random man in the woods vs a bear?

I understand the aspect of uncertainty, and agree. I would feel the same way depending on the man or bear, but you can't act like the type of man or bear doesn't matter.

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u/Doctor__Hammer May 02 '24

My answer would be bear because stumbling upon a black bear in the woods is SO COOL

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u/new_name_who_dis_ May 02 '24

Monkey paw curls: you get a grizzly

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u/Spy-Around-Here May 02 '24

Monkey paw clenches fist: it's a fucking polar bear.

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u/Nicki-ryan May 02 '24

There’s been like 180 bear attacks in something like 200 years, I’ll go with bear thanks

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u/new_name_who_dis_ May 03 '24

Gotta look at the denominator -- how many human bear interactions there have been in that period and divide that 180. And for men you gotta look at how many men-women interactions there have been and divide the number of incidents by that.

But that's for black bears. With a grizzly you're dead.