Soundbite sized safety
I recently watched a lecture by Steven Levitt (auther of Freakonomics) that gave a fairly convincing argument on why putitng children in car seats is a bad idea. As he points out in his lecture, many people are unhappy with this idea. Especialy car seat manfacturers.
His theory on why there is so much restance to this idea is because of a ‘bells and whistles’ mindset. The larger, more complex, and more expensive the solution will be the one favored by people. “why go through all this rigermaroll” they ask themselves “unless there was a huge benifit at the end?” I would argue that its actualy the simpler solution people go fo, not the more complex one. but the simplicity would be in education, not in actual action.
Safety education relies on quick, easy to explain, precautions. Danger : car crash. Precaution: carseats. We use this formula whenever there is a danger springing up. Danger : motercycle crashes. Precaution : helmets. Danger : food born bacteria Precaution: cook to a certian tempature. Danger: sexual transmited desease. Precaution : use a condom.
For kinksters the list is ever longer. Danger : electrical play. Precaution : dont play above the waist. Danger : bondage. Precaution : EMT sissors. Danger : Wax. Precaution : hold candel high. Danger : nipple clamps. Precaution : ten minute time limit. Of corse none of these are nearly that simple. There are forms of electrical play that can be done below the waist that still stops the heart and forms of electrical play done on the chest that are perfectly safe. There are situations where cutting away bondage actualy increases the risk of injury.
There are sexual transmited deseases where a condom, even a properly used condom, has no change at all in the risk of transmition. Do you know what one it is? Or do you just blindly folow along the path of ‘use condom = less risk’?
An over dependence on these precautions can actualy lead to more danger. If you rely on them totaly you will get complacent and think your in the clear when your actualy not. When the first reports of mad cow desease came to light, the danger was scofed at. “Yeah yeah, just tell us what tempature to cook the meat to so we can be safe.” A liftime of fighting salmanaila by cooking and e coli by cooking had left the population unparpared to a desease (mad cow isnt a desease, its a chemical) that couldent be brushed aside by folowing a spicific set of cooking instructions.
Danger : meeting stranger over the net. Precaution : set up a safecall when you first meet ….. Taylor Summers had a safecall. Lot of good it did her.
The best path to safety is to educate yourself. Become aware. If you want to avoid car crashes, then paying attention to your suroundings and defensive driving habits do a heck of a lot more good than growing dependent on car seats. If you want to avoid sexual transmited deseases, a relationship of trust and honesty with your partner does a heck of a lot more good than growing dependent on condoms.
Danger : tyranny. Precaution : vote.
Please dont grow complaciant and think that if your folowing the quick and simple precaution that your totaly free from any danger.