People are stupid. Those gravestones sound like they were an accident waiting to happen...and this was likely obvious for years before tragedy actually struck. I wonder if any of the locals during that time ever requested or petitioned for something to be done about the stones proactively?
Everybody expects...in fact, they think somehow that they "deserve"...to live their lives in safety and comfort. But people still die from such things as lightning, traffic accidents, diseases, animal attacks, human violence and a host of other dangers. Some of these are simply unavoidable bad luck, but many or most of these deaths could have been avoided if people would simply think about what they are doing.
The internet now can and does report everything that happens everywhere to everybody. And of course we have people who think that the answer to these tragedies is legislation; ban this, restrict that, forbid everything else. None of these dog maulings would have happened if dogs were banned. Why would we allow those dangerous heavy grave markers to be left standing around where kids could get close to them? Drunk driving caused a death? Well, obviously if we ban alcohol...or cars...or maybe both...we'd all be safer. A guy standing in a field during a thunderstorm is killed by lightning? Just forbid going outside, that'll solve the problem.
Life is fraught with peril; existence is dangerous, and the universe wasn't designed to make life safe and easy. People need to think and to be aware of the dangers around them. That means finding ways to avoid them, rather than wishing them out of existence.
One of the giants of science fiction, Philip K. Dick, said: "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away".
Everybody expects...in fact, they think somehow that they "deserve"...to live their lives in safety and comfort. But people still die from such things as lightning, traffic accidents, diseases, animal attacks, human violence and a host of other dangers. Some of these are simply unavoidable bad luck, but many or most of these deaths could have been avoided if people would simply think about what they are doing.
The internet now can and does report everything that happens everywhere to everybody. And of course we have people who think that the answer to these tragedies is legislation; ban this, restrict that, forbid everything else. None of these dog maulings would have happened if dogs were banned. Why would we allow those dangerous heavy grave markers to be left standing around where kids could get close to them? Drunk driving caused a death? Well, obviously if we ban alcohol...or cars...or maybe both...we'd all be safer. A guy standing in a field during a thunderstorm is killed by lightning? Just forbid going outside, that'll solve the problem.
Life is fraught with peril; existence is dangerous, and the universe wasn't designed to make life safe and easy. People need to think and to be aware of the dangers around them. That means finding ways to avoid them, rather than wishing them out of existence.
One of the giants of science fiction, Philip K. Dick, said: "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away".
