Tech Is Enabling Stupidity
August 23rd, 2010 by ComputerBob
A few months ago, a little girl, with her parents’ permission and blessing, tried to break the world’s record for being the youngest person to sail around the world by herself.
When she got into trouble out on the ocean, she used technology to call for help, and hundreds of rescue workers in airplanes, helicopters and ships sprang into action to rescue her, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Who do you think paid for that rescue effort?
I’ll give you a hint — it wasn’t her parents.
After that, an even younger girl announced that she would make the same attempt.
Personally, I think that people who attempt such risky behaviors should be required by law to pay for any rescue costs that they accrue. They could do that by either buying insurance beforehand to cover the cost of any rescue, or they could put twice the estimated cost of a probable rescue into an escrow account.
If the specter of losing their young daughter to the open sea isn’t enough motivation to deter parents from allowing their children to endanger themselves through dangerous behaviors, then maybe the exhorbitant cost of a rescue insurance policy might make them think twice about it.
But it turns out that children aren’t the only ones who are doing dangerous things and counting on technology to save them. The National Park Service is dealing with an increased number of adults who are doing the same thing: “While new technologies can and do save lives, the NPS is also finding that unseasoned hikers and campers are now boldly going where they never would have gone before, counting on cellphones, GPS, and SPOT devices to bail them out if they get into trouble.”
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Dubious, Ethics, Law, Psychology, Rights