On the other hand, people who don't have the "illusion of ultrasafety" seem to develop a habit of just accepting danger as part of life, to the point of actively speaking out against things like automatic detection for kids left in hot cars.

I think the "Blue pill" mindset is more useful overall. The red pill generally does nothing to build a safer world.

You... do understand that the "safest" world literally means you lying in a bombproof vat of fluid with all your sensory input produced virtually so that there is no way you can get into an accident that harms you physically?

A safe world is of course nice, i do not deny that. But I see higher goals for our society than that. And pushing the boundaries of our knowledge and understanding of the universe we live in is inherently not safe.

I can't honestly say I respect people for choosing the blue pill. However, I very much respect their right to make that choice. I'd also appreciate that blue pillers respected red pillers' right to make their choice and not try to prohibit and demean everything they think looks risky. (obviously, dichotomy is not this strong in the real world)

Only a tiny percentage of risks require any kind of disruptive measures like that. I suspect if it were plotted, there would be a very obvious point where 90% of safety gains happened in the first 10% of the disruptive projects.

Natural causes are a different matter, but external causes are often really easy to stop. Even murder seems to be partly preventable just by removing motives.

I don't think most blue pillers have much real disrespect for red pillers, except when it endangers the public, or stops attempts to make the general public safer.

There have been daredevils for a very long time, nobody is saying that we should ban space exploration or stunt performers Blue pillers like Jackass just as much as anyone else.

I think the "standard blue pill position" is more that there's already plenty of people who will want to be astronauts regardless of any discouragement, and we don't really need to try to make that kind of outlook the default target we should all aspire to, and in general, we should apply tech wherever possible to keep us safe.

Lots of things affect other people. House fires can kill a whole family even though only one was responsible for starting it. Mandatory smoke alarms do not majorly impact people's lives, and can prevent people from dying on account of someone else's actions.

If someone wants to, and has the economic means to go phoneless for a day as a personal challenge without getting fired, that's great, they should write an article about what they learned.

But every year kids get permanently injured for life on the football field. I think we should be careful not to create a culture that leads people to think that's "Just how life is", and suffer very preventable chronic pain or brain damage.

You are always on your own. We know from evidence that even in a city, if an extreme situation develops, you will almost certainly have to fend for yourself. Police have been known to turn their backs before putting themselves in certain danger and the ratio of police officers to citizens is something to actually ponder.

If you really thirst for that feeling of _onus_, then I can honestly suggest skydiving. You are extremely responsible for every little thing you do. Still, though, take your phone with you... you never know what might go wrong.