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Some woman on the internet said she would feel safer spending a night in the woods with a random bear rather than with a random man

  • jsomae
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    7 months ago

    Statistical error. Unlikely to encounter a bear; but per bear encounter, less likely to survive than per men encounter.

    Serial killers and rapists are very clever and because there exist serial killers who want to kill indigenous women in the woods, they will likely succeed. Bears have no such desire, and because indigenous women are clever they will avoid the bears.

    But I’m willing to bet that the odds of a random man being a rapist/murderer are much lower than a random bear deciding to kill me.

    It’s hard thing to think about because our brains want to rephrase the situation into taking account how likely it is to encounter men vs bears in the first place. That’s why this isn’t very applicable to, say, staying safe at night or in bars.

    …except it is. This is why, if you have to take a ride home with a strange man, it’s much safer to go with an arbitrary man of your choosing than the one who offers.