why do men pursue dangerous activities?

[brainhulk]

Yesterday while mountain biking I unlucky fell into a deep rut and wasn't able to ride it out. I basically went over my handle bars head first, landed on my back, and slid a couple feet.

I got up pretty much unscathed, just a couple of scratches, knee hurts a little, but worst fall so far.

Anybody ever think twice or completely stop doing dangerous stuff they love? Do you regret it? Are you okay with doing boring activities?

 

[highland145]

I don't bounce or heal like I used to. Didn't want to climb on my Mom's roof to clean it, yesterday. Neither she nor Dad are able to hold the ladder. But you can't say no to your Mom.


<----chicken shit.

 

[SunnyD]

Well... after having my first child, I proceeded to continue "doing" that which I love most and ended up with four more despite thinking twice about it.

Do I regret it? There are days.

Am I okay with doing boring activities? Sitting around listening to my daughter's violin lessons aren't really "exciting" nor is listening to my son ramble on about pokemon. But they all have their moments.

 

[shortylickens]

Adrenaline. Also its in our instincts to test ourselves.

 

[highland145]

Adrenaline. Also its in our instincts to test ourselves.

In sunny's case, it was so much fun he didn't want to stop.

 

[Baked]

To impress the beta males and impress the females.

 

[SunnyD]

In sunny's case, it was so much fun he didn't want to stop.

Duh.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Anybody ever think twice or completely stop doing dangerous stuff they love?

I've been thinking that I may stop trad climbing once I have kids. It's the kind of thing where if I'm worried about what'll happen if I fall, it actually becomes more dangerous.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Adrenaline is a hell of drug. The only fix I gave up is motorcycles, because the wifey could not take it anymore.

Had an old doge dart pull out in front of me, probably had .5 second to react and brake before crashing into the back quarter panel. Going 40-45 maybe. The forks diving hard and throwing me up out of the saddle, helped launch me. I did a superman over the car, flew an indeterminate distance, ended up on my feet when it was all over. My CBR 1000 was totaled though. The wife got called by the police, and since she left for work about 1/2 hr after me, and it happened in front of the neighborhood, she saw the bike. That is the last time I owned one. Rode for about a decade as primary transportation too.

Combat sports have to do the trick now. I have to float around though, because when I get comfortable someplace, I do not get the rush anymore. When the waves get big enough to put you through the spin cycle, that does it too. Statistics say driving is more dangerous than anything I do for thrills, so I would say they are fairly safe choices really.

 

[NetWareHead]

I'm an avid frequent skier (nearly every weekend during winter). I've seen accidents and passed by ski patrol one time cleaning up after a death on the mountain. My uncle was involved in a collision with a snowboarder and ended up fracturing his femur. I took my gf skiing for the first time. She fell and ending up tearing her ACL.

I know I'm not invincible and can be hurt/die like anyone else. I still do it because I love the sport. Its a adrenaline rush. I get the greatest thrill from going as fast as possible while slaloming down a mountain and feeling the effects of G-forces as you go down a steep incline or make deeply banked carving turns. I get scared at first when I am looking down a steep trail from its precipice. or as I ride the ski lift and I slowly realize how fricking high I am or how cold/bad the weather is on the mountain top. Or when I am so deeply banked in a turn that my arms can reach out and touch the snow on the ground racing by. I'm not saying to approach skiing or any action sport with reckless abandon and ski beyond your abilities. I always wear a helmet and if while skiing I lose confidence in the snow's ability to hold an edge or start encountering ice/scratch, I either take it easier or leave the mountain.

The difference I feel in being at first scared and then at the end of a run having completed a difficult trail or broken a previous record of mine is exhilarating. To date, the fastest I have ever gone on skis is 70 mph (measured/approximated by a GPS device) which was done at Sugarloaf Mountain, one of my best most fun days I ever had skiing. The adrenaline is addictive and the feeling of accomplishing a personal goal (or escaping injury by the skin of your teeth) is satisfying.

There was a race car driver named Aryton Senna who used driving as a means for self-discovery and racing as a metaphor for life: "The harder I push, the more I find within myself. I am always looking for the next step, a different world to go into, areas where I have not been before. It's lonely driving a Grand Prix car, but very absorbing. I have experienced new sensations, and I want more. That is my excitement, my motivation." I've always liked this quote and draw parallels between skiing and auto racing.

 

[randomrogue]

Yesterday while mountain biking I unlucky fell into a deep rut and wasn't able to ride it out. I basically went over my handle bars head first, landed on my back, and slid a couple feet.

I got up pretty much unscathed, just a couple of scratches, knee hurts a little, but worst fall so far.

Anybody ever think twice or completely stop doing dangerous stuff they love? Do you regret it? Are you okay with doing boring activities?

I do a lot of crazy shit and women tend to participate in all of them.

I broke my leg flying over my handlebars

 

[exdeath]

Because.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Adrenaline. Also its in our instincts to test ourselves.

Afraid of failure - wanting to see where our actual limits are.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Because it's awesome?

 

[roguerower]

Managed to pound my way into the earth yesterday while landing my parachute. Probably hit doing 20mph, went ass over teacups, and ended up tangled in my gear on my ass. Jumped up, but then quickly sat down when my ankle started hurting. Checked for a tib/fib break and just ended up twisting it and fucking up my patella tendon. Sore today, but no lasting damage. Most I've hurt myself in my 300 jumps.

I do it because it relaxes me and because I push myself to be faster and "cleaner" in my maneuvers. There's nothing else in your mind when you're free falling or your canopy is diving for the ground at 50mph.

 

[SearchMaster]

I don't do that much dangerous stuff just for fun any more (I'm 45), aside from snow and water skiing. I still do things that get me injured working around the house, but it's more because it has to be done than for fun. I guess I've burned all my adrenaline and the rush just isn't as strong as it used to be.

 

[Legios]

Its only crazy in hindsight and if it fails. If it succeeds then its just another notch of awesome.

 

[Paladin3]

Two summers ago I somehow found myself perched atop what the locals call Popsicle Bridge, looking down at the creek far below. My two daughters and several of their friends were in the water yelling for me to jump.

I took a look around, trying to gauge weather any of these little shits would be able to pull me out of the water should my jump turn ugly and it become necessary. I figured not, so I climbed down and eased into the water from the bank.

A man has got to know his limitations.

 

[SunnyD]

Afraid of failure - wanting to see where our actual limits are.

Actually this is a good point. If "man" didn't "test itself" so often, we'd still be in the jungles eating lice off one another and throwing poop at each other.

Instead, some guy said one day, "I want to make fire."
- Fire.

Some guy once said, "I'm tired of walking, I want to get somewhere faster."
- Wheel.

Some guy once said, "Fuck this cave, I want to live in something nicer."
- "Housing".

Some guy once said, "Screw this hunting and gathering shit."
- Farming, permanent settlements.

Some guy once said, "I wonder what it would be like to soar with the birds."
- Flight.

Some guy once said, "I want to touch the stars."
- Spaceflight.

etc.

It's the way we work. It's what we do. And hopefully we never stop.

 

[Red Storm]

Last crazy thing I did was go sky diving. Nothing quite like jumping out of a plane at ~15K feet. Oddly enough it isn't the least bit scary, just pure fun.

It's the way we work. It's what we do. And hopefully we never stop.

Some guy once said, "Fuck all this work, I want to kill time."

-ATOT.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Studies have shown that "risk aversion" in the brain is not fully developed until about the age of 25 in men.

A National Institutes of Health study proposes that the part of the brain that restrains risky behavior, including reckless driving, and thinking skills is not fully developed until the age of 25.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3250075/

 

[reallyscrued]

Men hunt, women nest.

 

[TwiceOver]

I don't do anything that I would consider really dangerous, however after dropping a lot of weight and quitting smoking I now enjoy pushing my body to its limits.

 

[GasX]

At 44, I definitely have developed a finer sense of my own mortality and have experienced enough wear and tear to make the recovery from "thrilling" activities painful and laborious. Yet, I am building a single speed coaster brake only mountain bike to take to the local trails so they seem more thrilling (i.e. sphincter tightening adrenalin rushes).

Why? As Dave the Nerd said, "Because it's awesome"

 

[jagec]

Studies have shown that "risk aversion" in the brain is not fully developed until about the age of 25 in men.

A National Institutes of Health study proposes that the part of the brain that restrains risky behavior, including reckless driving, and thinking skills is not fully developed until the age of 25.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3250075/

Coincidentally, car insurance rates also exhibit a pretty major drop at 25.