I don't mean to be argumentative here, but I am compelled to comment on your message...
I agree with that. Calculated risks are ok.
If you understand them.
Read up on the calculated risks associated with the first 25 Space Shuttle Launches. Then, knowing what you know now, consider getting onboard the Challenger's last flight.
Risking the loss of a buck in the lotto is one thing. Risking the loss of your right arm with the same calculated odds is quite another.
They may have been taking less risk than driving a car.
I can't make that stretch.
Shit happens. Sad because they were really living.
I'd have to define "Really Living" a bit differently. These guys were whippersnappers. Still wet behind the ears.
It's easy to ignore advice from experienced old men and women. It's harder to become one.
Society can stuff it though, like they have any better ideas on how one should live wisely.
Well, that sort of ignores the impact that celebrity and media can have on some parts of society, especially youngsters, which was the thrust of OP's point, and my most recent one as well. There is a valuable collective wisdom within societies.
I'll share some that was given to me by a good friend that piloted prop driven planes for the Air Force and U.N. for over 20 years.
"When I had flown my first 1000 hours I felt like I was it. I could call myself a pilot and mean it.
When I hit 5000 hours I knew I was the best of the breed. I could fly anything anywhere. Handle any situation.
When I hit 7500 hours I realized that I had seen a lot of great pilots go down. Guys I knew were as good as me. It dawned on me
that is was really luck that had saved my tail quite a few times and not my extraordinary skill. That was a real shocker.
I figure I'd used up my luck at 10,000 hours and retired."
That was told to me by Robert Lane when he was 76 years old. He's been all over the world many times and he is one of the smartest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. He now lives in the Ozarks on 80 acres about 10 miles from me.
That's living (according to me
But here's the point... Robert's wisdom, gained from a lifetime of experience, can only be passed on to a society. It's up to individuals to benefit from it.
So, after really thinking about it, I believe these young men were at the very least, inexperienced, reckless, and careless. Those are not qualities I admire as a rule. There may be circumstances where they are selfless and heroic qualities, but this was not one of those cases either.
Society has a responsibility to hold knowledge and experience in high regard. Right up there with the gift of life.
As the original post suggested, we should not shower posthumous accolades upon those who ignore collective wisdom and lose their lives in the process.
Bill
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