Althouse: "People, this is TOTALLY FAKE. The '80' year old is a stunt guy."

May 26, 2012

"People, this is TOTALLY FAKE. The '80' year old is a stunt guy."

"Heavy make up, etc. It's a total stunt to try to draw people to their business. We'll hear this is fake, probably in about less than a week."

Why would that help their business?

13 comments:

The Crack Emcee said...: Why would that help their business?

Because people are idiots. That's the premise they were working under - with ample evidence to back it up - because even if they get busted, it won't make the front page but be announced on page 43 of the local paper, and nobody else in the media will really pick it up since showing the gullibility of the public is not as sensational as the original story.

That's how it "works" out there in Ethics-Free Land.

The idea we have to fix this nonsense isn't a very high priority for anybody but me. What did you say, Ann?

"Most people don't think" enough to care about such things,...; 5/26/12, 10:12 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: BTW - an intense examination into the gullibility of the public WOULD be a hugely sensational story, but that would require bravery as it also implicates the media in the charade, so it's not going to happen.

Remember The WaPo admitting they slanted their Obama coverage - AFTER he had won the election?

To do any good, they'll have to be dragged to honesty, kicking and screaming all the way,....; 5/26/12, 10:18 AM
Ann Althouse said...: @Crack

I take it you didn't read the story or watch the video. The point isn't that finding out that it's fake would ultimately hurt their business. It's that the thing they showed, if believed, would be harmful (so why would they fake it).

Not sure why I'm bothering to explain this to you, since you didn't bother to check what you were talking about but just plugged in your stock opinion that you assume applies to everything.

Check your work, you who claim be be devoted to science and reason.; 5/26/12, 10:20 AM
edutcher said...: Very pedagogical of you, Madame, but Crack has a point if we follow the old adage, "There's no such thing as bad publicity".

That said, I believe such establishments are heavily regulated and would be shut down if something like this got out.; 5/26/12, 10:28 AM
bagoh20 said...: The one time I tried skydiving, the instructors purposefully fooled us into thinking we were just moving toward the door and getting ready to jump, then they suddenly push you out of the plane before you can change your mind. On guy in our group did back out long before we got to altitude. I don't think there is much backing out once you get near the door. There would be too much of it if they let you change your mind once you get right to the door.; 5/26/12, 10:32 AM
bagoh20 said...: When the chute deploys it really yanks you hard as you decelerate from 100mph down to the single digits. She is lucky he was able to hang on to her. I wonder if she's up for another one. It seems like that was not a real good view she had there - mostly just instructor crotch.

And yea, I don't see how that could possibly help their business, unless you are looking for that extra bit of thrill.; 5/26/12, 10:44 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Ann Althouse,

@Crack  I take it you didn't read the story or watch the video. The point isn't that finding out that it's fake would ultimately hurt their business. It's that the thing they showed, if believed, would be harmful (so why would they fake it).

I've known about that story for over 24 hours.

Whether you can get hurt or not is beside the point. Like in the world of "alternative" medicine (which can also harm you) the emphasis is on that phrase - "if believed" - and what are we going to do about belief, since the rest of you are so determined to keep doing it? It's a brilliant business plan. That oldster is a rebel!  Not sure why I'm bothering to explain this to you, since you didn't bother to check what you were talking about but just plugged in your stock opinion that you assume applies to everything.  Check your work, you who claim be be devoted to science and reason.

Nope, or at least not as you're suggesting. I also don't have to check my work to determine if there's two sides to the homeopathy scam, or calls for "more research" into other "alternative healing modalities," or how cultism "works" in society - I know better, and see them all around me in action (Isn't big-headed Romney "gorgeous"? Such an important observation, and trait, to look for in a leader,…). My "stock opinion that,…applies to everything" is based on this thing you might be unfamiliar with called reality - which is pretty immovable - so I don't have to check it, or attempt to change my view of it. It's practically a part of my cognitive DNA.

What you're missing is how obvious things look when they're presented from outside of reality. Of course YOU don't know why this business plan would work. The gullibility of the public isn't even on your radar - you could probably care less. (I'll never forget Glenn Boy saying a great thing about being a law professor is that y'all can just spit shit out there without caring if you're right or not. In reality, that's called being "ethically challenged"…) You once lectured me on my "problem" with always wanting and trying to be right, like being a babbling idiot is a better thing to strive for. I know it pays better (that's not a shot directed at you or Glenn) but no thanks. I feel much better being sane, and aware of my surroundings, than missing the obvious as you sometimes do.

It's science and reason that tells me, often, there's no reason to waste my time re-checking what's pretty obvious from the get-go,...; 5/26/12, 11:19 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Crack, if you're reacting to the story at the link... it's sure not clear. You say you know it, but you drag up homeopathy. I think you should feel more responsibility to be clear... or do you really want to seem like your ranting and that's the point? Don't assert that you are "reality-based." Prove it.; 5/26/12, 11:47 AM
Paddy O said...: Folks dying on Everest doesn't seem to hurt business.

Just draws a certain kind of person even more.; 5/26/12, 12:52 PM
Ben Morris said...: I've been skydiving several times and in my experience almost every first-time tandem jumper is pushed out of the plane. The club I went to had an explicit "last chance to turn back" point that came just before the door was opened.

I also find it nearly impossible that it would be faked by the club, and people who are using the stock "all publicity is good publicity" line are just empirically wrong: Accidents are very bad for business.

I doubt any rational club would ever sanction their own pros doing an unharnessed tandem jump at all, much less as part of a sick stunt that plays directly into their customer's greatest fears.; 5/26/12, 1:17 PM
familyfuninthekitchen said...: I used to jump at that drop zone many years ago, and have done over five hundred jumps as a tandem master. Though i never trained how to avoid this exact scenario, it is quite obvious that it is possible. Had both jumpers exited in an arching position it would have been quite improbable. The cascade of errors include not adjusting the harness tight enough, not tightening the side straps tightly, exiting with the student in a n extreme de-arch position and not synchronizing the movements of both parties. As the tandem master exited by rolling forward there was enough room at the bottom/back of the student harness for her to essentially rotate her body through backwards. Nauseating but also very real from my eyes. Thank God the tandem master kept her legs bent and ahe did not let go of the harness.; 5/26/12, 5:38 PM
wyo sis said...: In my qualified opinion that is genuine old lady rear end and tummy roll.; 5/26/12, 11:54 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Ann Althouse,

Crack, if you're reacting to the story at the link... it's sure not clear. You say you know it, but you drag up homeopathy. I think you should feel more responsibility to be clear... or do you really want to seem like your ranting and that's the point? Don't assert that you are "reality-based." Prove it.

I've thought for some time you don't get what homeopathy is - despite your own experience with it - figuring (as most do) it's just some obsession I have about my wife. Let me explain:

Being only water - yet held up as the cure-all elixir of the NewAge - Homeopathy is the symbol of our times. Almost the entirety of current "thinking" can be related to it, because it encapsulates so much of what's wrong with the thought process being used to justify bad decisions.

For instance, Homeopathy is the cult belief a deluted substance will be stronger than something with an active ingredient. You voted for Obama - an empty suit, brought to us by Oprah, who was supposed to be the cure for everything from the economy and race to the oceans rising. You even claimed it was "rational" to vote for him over a Senator with 30+ years of experience, in the face of a crisis, just as it's now considered common sense to abandon medicine in favor of "alternative treatments" when someone has cancer. Viola!

I could go on like this all night,...; 5/27/12, 12:31 AM