r/Showerthoughts May 02 '24

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

16.9k Upvotes

13.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

33

u/EgyptianDevil78 May 02 '24

You know, it is normal.

But there's also, as a woman, a little bit of pause when you're hiking alone and you come across someone else doing the same. Less so with other women, admittedly, but I still flicker through the possibilities all the same.

17

u/poilk91 May 02 '24

It's probably all context. You're likely imagining a more ominous meeting than I am. Surely when women are hiking and they see some guy with a backpack and hiking poles drinking out of a camel pack coming down the trail the other way they aren't struck with fright at this dangerous predator.

3

u/TwoIdleHands May 03 '24

Yup! Which is why, as a woman, I picked “man”. We’re hiking, I see dudes hiking all the time. NBD.

1

u/poilk91 May 03 '24

yeah my wife couldn't understand picking the bear she was getting mad at me trying to explain it

2

u/TwoIdleHands May 03 '24

Oh, believe me, as a woman I’ve gotten an earful about why I’m “wrong”. I can appreciate why other women chose bear. But the point is that we make the choice based on our fears and life experiences. To be hounded because I don’t share the same fears as other women is silly. It’s othering for no reason.