I don't feel the slightest bit sorry for grown adults who trash their hotel rooms or strip naked on the sidewalk, simply because someone on the phone told them to. As far as I'm concerned these "pranksters" are performing a public service, outing the terminally stupid. If anything in this article should be a crime it's the "victims'" gullibility.
You'd be surprised at how much you yourself rely on trusting other people, even if you do speak like a stone cold trust no-one badass. You'd also be surprised at how much society relies on the ability of its people to trust each other. This is what pranksters and scammers rely on.
I'd like a society where we trust and help each other. What these people do is to make us all trust each other a bit less and to look at our fellow man with the attitude that "they're going to screw me over, so I'm going to screw t
Someone I respect very much told me, "Trust, but verify." I have no problem with trusting someone whose identity can be verified--whose credentials check out. These so-called victims did not seem to even lift a finger to verify the authority of the person asking them to humiliate themselves and do thousands of dollars in property damage. Maybe they're not terminally stupid, but definitely they're hopelessly, terminally naive. Clearly the mods disagree, and you can see the karmic punishing I'm taking in
I also disagree that our society is based on mutual trust. Volumes and volumes of laws backed up by lawyers, police, and jails show otherwise.
That's called selection/observation bias. You're looking at only one side of the coin.
I've lived in countries where there's a lot less trust than here. The notion of returning an opened product to a store and getting a full refund is based on trust (yes, there's a profit incentive, and some people do screw the retailers, but the system works overall). In some countries I've been to, this would be unfeasible: Almost everyone will try to exploit such a retailer.
When a storm knocks out the electricity and the traffic lights stop working, I've always seen everyone obeying the rules. I doubt it's because they're worried about cops. It's about trust that the other drivers will do likewise. Simply unworkable in other places I've lived in.
I've had neighbors whom I don't know receive UPS/FedEx packages for me. Again, trust. I don't think they're afraid of me beating them up.
There are loads of examples. Society, at least in the US, is fairly nice and a lot of that has to do with a common trust.
Which is why someone exploiting that trust is a despised person.
Wow, I think I'd find your neighborhood kind of eerily idyllic. We lock and bolt our doors at night, and if your package gets delivered to your neighbor's house by accident... let it go, man because it's gone. And the few remaining stores that actually have return policies get taken advantage of mercilessly.
Wow, I think I'd find your neighborhood kind of eerily idyllic. We lock and bolt our doors at night, and if your package gets delivered to your neighbor's house by accident... let it go, man because it's gone. And the few remaining stores that actually have return policies get taken advantage of mercilessly.
And because of it, your neighborhood sucks, and mine doesn't.
I didn't mean to suggest the whole US was the way I described, but much of where I've lived in it is. Suggesting people become mistrustful will likely turn my neighborhood into one like yours.
I'd hate to live wherever it is you are. Where is it, anyhow?
I live in a quiet suburb of Chicago.
I've accidentally left the back door unlocked for days with no problems. (Don't tell my wife.)
We have neighbors with a very similar address who we don't know at all, really, but we routinely trade packages.
And all the delivery guys play "ding-dong-ditch" - none of them get a signature. They just dump the package on the porch, ring the door bell, and head for the truck. Even when it's literally thousands of dolla
When a storm knocks out the electricity and the traffic lights stop working, I've always seen everyone obeying the rules.
You must live in fantasy land. Most people don't even know what to do when power goes out at an intersection. They all try to go at the same time.
As much as I grumble about what idiots my fellow drivers are, I've seen this in action. I was in Houston during Ike's aftermath when the majority of the city lost power. I saw plenty of inconsiderate idiots during that time. But I also saw the vast majority of folks working together. You had to be careful around intersections because you didn't know for sure some bozo was going to muck it all up. Sure. But I made it through those intersections without incident (although it was MUCH nicer to have the s
Or to put it into Slashdot terms, you can live your life trusting people either: "Order Deny, Allow" or "Order Allow, Deny". Either way is fine
North Americans in particular shouldn't have a problem with traffic lights going out, because you already have 4-way stops, so everyone should be familiar with the idea of slowing down and going in order. Elsewhere there's no such thing, so it's somewhat trickier, since "yield to the right" can result in a nice deadlock on a busy intersection.
What idiots (Score:-1, Flamebait)
I don't feel the slightest bit sorry for grown adults who trash their hotel rooms or strip naked on the sidewalk, simply because someone on the phone told them to. As far as I'm concerned these "pranksters" are performing a public service, outing the terminally stupid. If anything in this article should be a crime it's the "victims'" gullibility.
Re: (Score:5, Insightful)
You'd be surprised at how much you yourself rely on trusting other people, even if you do speak like a stone cold trust no-one badass. You'd also be surprised at how much society relies on the ability of its people to trust each other. This is what pranksters and scammers rely on.
I'd like a society where we trust and help each other. What these people do is to make us all trust each other a bit less and to look at our fellow man with the attitude that "they're going to screw me over, so I'm going to screw t
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Someone I respect very much told me, "Trust, but verify." I have no problem with trusting someone whose identity can be verified--whose credentials check out. These so-called victims did not seem to even lift a finger to verify the authority of the person asking them to humiliate themselves and do thousands of dollars in property damage. Maybe they're not terminally stupid, but definitely they're hopelessly, terminally naive. Clearly the mods disagree, and you can see the karmic punishing I'm taking in
Re:What idiots (Score:5, Insightful)
I also disagree that our society is based on mutual trust. Volumes and volumes of laws backed up by lawyers, police, and jails show otherwise.
That's called selection/observation bias. You're looking at only one side of the coin.
I've lived in countries where there's a lot less trust than here. The notion of returning an opened product to a store and getting a full refund is based on trust (yes, there's a profit incentive, and some people do screw the retailers, but the system works overall). In some countries I've been to, this would be unfeasible: Almost everyone will try to exploit such a retailer.
When a storm knocks out the electricity and the traffic lights stop working, I've always seen everyone obeying the rules. I doubt it's because they're worried about cops. It's about trust that the other drivers will do likewise. Simply unworkable in other places I've lived in.
I've had neighbors whom I don't know receive UPS/FedEx packages for me. Again, trust. I don't think they're afraid of me beating them up.
There are loads of examples. Society, at least in the US, is fairly nice and a lot of that has to do with a common trust.
Which is why someone exploiting that trust is a despised person.
Re: (Score:1)
Wow, I think I'd find your neighborhood kind of eerily idyllic. We lock and bolt our doors at night, and if your package gets delivered to your neighbor's house by accident... let it go, man because it's gone. And the few remaining stores that actually have return policies get taken advantage of mercilessly.
Re:What idiots (Score:5, Insightful)
Wow, I think I'd find your neighborhood kind of eerily idyllic. We lock and bolt our doors at night, and if your package gets delivered to your neighbor's house by accident... let it go, man because it's gone. And the few remaining stores that actually have return policies get taken advantage of mercilessly.
And because of it, your neighborhood sucks, and mine doesn't.
I didn't mean to suggest the whole US was the way I described, but much of where I've lived in it is. Suggesting people become mistrustful will likely turn my neighborhood into one like yours.
Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)
Fair enough, you make a good point. How much are we a product of our environment, and how much is our environment a reflection of us?
Re: (Score:1, Offtopic)
I'd hate to live wherever it is you are. Where is it, anyhow?
I live in a quiet suburb of Chicago.
I've accidentally left the back door unlocked for days with no problems. (Don't tell my wife.)
We have neighbors with a very similar address who we don't know at all, really, but we routinely trade packages.
And all the delivery guys play "ding-dong-ditch" - none of them get a signature. They just dump the package on the porch, ring the door bell, and head for the truck. Even when it's literally thousands of dolla
Re: (Score:1, Offtopic)
When a storm knocks out the electricity and the traffic lights stop working, I've always seen everyone obeying the rules.
You must live in fantasy land. Most people don't even know what to do when power goes out at an intersection. They all try to go at the same time.
Re: (Score:1, Offtopic)
When a storm knocks out the electricity and the traffic lights stop working, I've always seen everyone obeying the rules.
You must live in fantasy land. Most people don't even know what to do when power goes out at an intersection. They all try to go at the same time.
As much as I grumble about what idiots my fellow drivers are, I've seen this in action. I was in Houston during Ike's aftermath when the majority of the city lost power. I saw plenty of inconsiderate idiots during that time. But I also saw the vast majority of folks working together. You had to be careful around intersections because you didn't know for sure some bozo was going to muck it all up. Sure. But I made it through those intersections without incident (although it was MUCH nicer to have the s
Re: (Score:2)
Or to put it into Slashdot terms, you can live your life trusting people either: "Order Deny, Allow" or "Order Allow, Deny". Either way is fine
North Americans in particular shouldn't have a problem with traffic lights going out, because you already have 4-way stops, so everyone should be familiar with the idea of slowing down and going in order. Elsewhere there's no such thing, so it's somewhat trickier, since "yield to the right" can result in a nice deadlock on a busy intersection.