Back to the topic of Herzog and "Nature is trying to kill us"....

The thought that just occurred to me, probably because of S's current hospital stay -- our own bodies are trying to kill us, people. YOU don't even believe you're all that special. Only a tiny part of your brain believes it, and that part would try to kill you too, under the right circumstances.

Only a tiny part of your brain believes it, and that part would try to kill you too, under the right circumstances.

Which is why I outfitted that part of my brain with a GPS transponder.

I'm keeping an eye on me...

I am dumbfounded by the staggering number of people who believe that nature/God/the Universe agrees with their specialness. EVRYTHING IS TRYING TO KILL YOU, PEOPLE! HERZOG IS RIGHT! ASSCAPS!!!

There does seem to be an appalling lack of awareness that it's several hundred years of industrialization, medical progress, and killing off aggressive large animals that has made life in the First World comparatively safe.

Do not taunt Happy Fun Grizzly.

our own bodies are trying to kill us, people

As a chronic allergy sufferer (it's so bad that I think about moving out of Austin all the damn time), I have to agree. I mean, my body - my immune system, in fact, which is charged with protecting me from pathogens - has taken it upon itself to decide that perfectly innocent pollen and dust and dander is actually life-threatening poison, and it sends me to my sickbed several times a month in a misguided attempt to protect me. I've obviously spent too much time thinking about this, but the terrible irony gets to me.

There does seem to be an apalling lack of awareness that it's several hundred years of industrialization, medical progress, and killing off aggressive large animals that has made life in the First World comparitively safe.

And even then, the comparative safety is somewhat of an illusion. To wit:

Do not taunt Happy Fun Grizzly.

Do not taunt Happy Fun Semi. Do not taunt Happy Fun Zoo Animal. Do not taunt Happy Fun Crazy Homeless Person.

And so on from there.

Do not taunt Unhappy Not Fun Miracleman.

Man, you guys don't want us to taunt anything fun.

t pout

I am dumbfounded by the staggering number of people who believe that nature/God/the Universe agrees with their specialness. EVERYTHING IS TRYING TO KILL YOU, PEOPLE! HERZOG IS RIGHT! ASSCAPS!!!

points and agrees with Sean

The thing is, I saw a lot of dudes like Treadwell and McCandless pass through - guys who believed in their own specialness and who thought that Alaska (or wherever) would welcome them with open arms and show them mysteries that no one else ever saw or would get to see. I know everyone's self-absorbed, I know that everyone is the star and hero of their own narrative, but the amount to which everyone else was reduced to bit players in these guys' personal narratives was damn near sociopathic.

You don't need to go to Alaska to be a self-absorbed jackass, but there seem to be a lot of them there. It's easier there, I suppose, because you *can* wander off and not have to interact with the rest of humanity. Nature is right there, just waiting. There's also that whole romance of the Last Frontier, which - frontier life is not a hell of a lot of fun. I'm just saying.

Herzog has a deeply humanist belief in the importance of mutual kindness and respect

I absolutely agree, and I question whether Treadwell and/or McCandless ever fully comprehended that in regards to the rest of humanity.

And now this is starting to become more about my Issues in regards to how Alaska is perceived and dealt with, so I'll shut up.

Man, you guys don't want us to taunt anything fun.

You can taunt Happy Stupid President.

You can taunt Happy Stupid President.

Nah, too easy.