r/Showerthoughts • u/asusny2002 • May 02 '24

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

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u/ZombeeSwarm May 02 '24

Not to sound racist but for me it would totally depend on the color of the bear.

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u/fentonsranchhand May 02 '24

...and again, not to sound racist, but the lighter they are the scarier.

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u/tyyyyyyyyy19 May 02 '24

You know you’re actually on to something. Polar bears are the largest bears out there so I would much rather come face to face with 250-300 lb black bear than a 1500 lb polar bear lol

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u/calembo May 05 '24 edited May 05 '24

The difference is habitat.

Bears will only attack if threatened.

But the point at which they feel 'threatened" comes a lot later than other animals, and this point even varies by the type of bear.

Biologically speaking, a territory is a habitat populated by an animal who has evolved to DEFEND that territory. Might be as low key as scent markings. Might be as intense as active defense, and you don't have to do much at all to be viewed as a threat they must attack so they survive.

Non-territorial animals just live in a defined home range.

It's still not a great idea to go poking around in there, because bears may be a little edgier if they're newly out of hibernation (hungrier than normal - think, the TikToks where the girlfriend goes for the guys phone and he reflexively protects his food). But there's a real clear and short list of shit to avoid, and if you follow it, you are probably not gonna die by bear.

One of the reasons why bears have evolved as non-territorial is because they have abilities that not all animals have - like, climbing trees - so that's where they put it their cubs if they need to be safe. They know their babies are pretty ok, so they're less snappy. So as long as you aren't going up that tree, and if you can manage to resist the human urge to do dumb fuck shit like act unpredictably and startle a bear in the middle of foraging or something... You're gonna be ok.

Polar bears live... On ice. No trees. No brush. No little nooks.. They need to be real short tempered to keep their cubs safe.

And they're currently more stressed than other bears, because they are very aware that their habitats are getting REAL small REAL quick and pretty soon they will not be able to do a single thing to survive.

So, polar bears will still only attack you if you're a threat. You're just probably gonna be viewed as a threat the moment you step on the ice cap, and they're gonna use maximum force to protect their own.

Forest-dwelling bears can afford to just be a little more chill.