You have to wonder about people....

You have to wonder about people.... (Full Version)

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jlf1961 -> You have to wonder about people.... (10/16/2013 11:54:31 AM)
A friend of mine from high school recently returned from Italy where he had been studying Mt. Vesuvius and told me 3 million people live in the danger zone if the volcano blows again like it did when it buried Herculium and Pompeii. This reminded me of all the people who have had homes destroyed by lava flows in Hawaii during the current eruption, not to mention all the people who are buying homes on the slopes of volcanoes from California to Washington. Okay, volcanic soil is some really fertile stuff, great for farming. And the views are breathtaking.... But what about when the volcano decides to blow its top? Then there are all the people living in earthquake zones, landslide zones, and other geologically questionable areas. Why live somewhere that mother nature has made it clear that given half the chance, she is gonna try and kill you?

LanceHughes -> RE: You have to wonder about people.... (10/16/2013 12:57:53 PM)
Four words: I live in Denver

MasterCaneman -> RE: You have to wonder about people.... (10/16/2013 2:31:32 PM)
When you think about it, there aren't any places on Earth that are totally safe. If it isn't earthquakes, it's floods. If not floods, wildfires, tornadoes, and hurricanes. While it's not been a major issue so far, we live in a cosmic shooting gallery, and every so often we get hit by a space rock. One of these days, it's gonna be a major one. We're almost wholly defenseless against nature inherent to our design. Without clothes we'd freeze or fry, we don't have thick skin, claws, or teeth to defend ourselves against dangerous animals, and our teeth and digestive systems are inadequate to process raw foods. We're quite literally aliens on this world when you think of it. Why people live in those places in an example of 'risk mitigation'. Yes, there's a greater chance of (X) happening, but it doesn't happen often enough to justify moving somewhere else. People have been living on the slopes of Vesuvius for millenia, they know that sooner or later the mountain's gonna blow again. But it doesn't wipe out everything everytime, so they feel the risk is less than the reward. Hell, most places in the continental U.S. are really piss-poor places to live without civil engineering. Much of the Southwest would be uninhabitable without artificial water supplies, electricity, and roads. Why live there? Because the reward outweighs the risk. That's why people move back into Tornado Alley, or the flood plains, or continue to live in Cali. Earth and Nature are not our friends. They are hell-bent on killing us, and only our big brains,opposable thumbs, and tendency to run in packs stand in the way of success on their part. Sometimes we live in 'dangerous' places by necessity, other times by sheer stubborness, and sometimes we lose. But more often, we win or at least dodge that particular bullet for another day. We're good at this kind of thing, you know...

jlf1961 -> RE: You have to wonder about people.... (10/16/2013 3:11:54 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: MasterCaneman When you think about it, there aren't any places on Earth that are totally safe. If it isn't earthquakes, it's floods. If not floods, wildfires, tornadoes, and hurricanes. While it's not been a major issue so far, we live in a cosmic shooting gallery, and every so often we get hit by a space rock. One of these days, it's gonna be a major one. We're almost wholly defenseless against nature inherent to our design. Without clothes we'd freeze or fry, we don't have thick skin, claws, or teeth to defend ourselves against dangerous animals, and our teeth and digestive systems are inadequate to process raw foods. We're quite literally aliens on this world when you think of it. Why people live in those places in an example of 'risk mitigation'. Yes, there's a greater chance of (X) happening, but it doesn't happen often enough to justify moving somewhere else. People have been living on the slopes of Vesuvius for millenia, they know that sooner or later the mountain's gonna blow again. But it doesn't wipe out everything everytime, so they feel the risk is less than the reward. Hell, most places in the continental U.S. are really piss-poor places to live without civil engineering. Much of the Southwest would be uninhabitable without artificial water supplies, electricity, and roads. Why live there? Because the reward outweighs the risk. That's why people move back into Tornado Alley, or the flood plains, or continue to live in Cali. Earth and Nature are not our friends. They are hell-bent on killing us, and only our big brains,opposable thumbs, and tendency to run in packs stand in the way of success on their part. Sometimes we live in 'dangerous' places by necessity, other times by sheer stubborness, and sometimes we lose. But more often, we win or at least dodge that particular bullet for another day. We're good at this kind of thing, you know... Everything you have said is true, however, while tornadoes do occur in this area, I have taken design ideas for the home I plan to build on another piece of property from various architects famous for such works as the Atlantic wall, the Maginot line, Corregidor not to mention the basement was built by the US Air force in the early 1960's. In short, I figure once it is completed, and since the local B1 base is no longer part of the nuclear deterrent, and therefore not high on the "gotta nuke the shit out of the place" target list, should be able to handle just about anything....

playfulotter -> RE: You have to wonder about people.... (10/16/2013 5:51:56 PM)
I think more people have died in the last ten years from other natural disasters than the main one for where I live which is earthquakes.....namely, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes....now if i could live somewhere else and I would enjoy it as I hate earthquakes....I have to reach that breaking point though to want to move!

MasterG2kTR -> RE: You have to wonder about people.... (10/16/2013 6:02:24 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: jlf1961 A friend of mine from high school recently returned from Italy where he had been studying Mt. Vesuvius and told me 3 million people live in the danger zone if the volcano blows again like it did when it buried Herculium and Pompeii. This reminded me of all the people who have had homes destroyed by lava flows in Hawaii during the current eruption, not to mention all the people who are buying homes on the slopes of volcanoes from California to Washington. Okay, volcanic soil is some really fertile stuff, great for farming. And the views are breathtaking.... But what about when the volcano decides to blow its top? Then there are all the people living in earthquake zones, landslide zones, and other geologically questionable areas. Why live somewhere that mother nature has made it clear that given half the chance, she is gonna try and kill you? Just a couple points: 1. If/when Mt. Vesuvius erupts again, there is nothing to say that it will be as explosive as it was in 79 AD. Plus, there are plenty of scientists watching it to give some reasonably accurate predictions of when that will happen (much like they did with Mt. St. Helen in WA). 2. Mt. Kilauea in HI has been spewing lava continuously for nearly 30 years. The only reason homes were destroyed was that the flow found a new path to take.

tj444 -> RE: You have to wonder about people.... (10/16/2013 6:28:19 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: jlf1961 Why live somewhere that mother nature has made it clear that given half the chance, she is gonna try and kill you? well,.. there really isn't anywhere (that I would actually want to live full-time) that is 100% safe.. I have looked for that in the past and I will take my chances with places that have a certain level of danger from mother nature.. and if you build a house with those dangers in mind and using certain materials then you can reduce the risk, sometimes by quite a lot.. and having what you need to survive for several weeks, water, a generator or other energy source, food, basic stuff etc then you increase your survival chances too.. but don't you know this? I thought you lived in a bunker (or the equivalent)..

jlf1961 -> RE: You have to wonder about people.... (10/16/2013 6:42:39 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: tj444 quote: ORIGINAL: jlf1961 Why live somewhere that mother nature has made it clear that given half the chance, she is gonna try and kill you? well,.. there really isn't anywhere (that I would actually want to live full-time) that is 100% safe.. I have looked for that in the past and I will take my chances with places that have a certain level of danger from mother nature.. and if you build a house with those dangers in mind and using certain materials then you can reduce the risk, sometimes by quite a lot.. and having what you need to survive for several weeks, water, a generator or other energy source, food, basic stuff etc then you increase your survival chances too.. but don't you know this? I thought you lived in a bunker (or the equivalent).. Right now, I am living in a reasonably secure home. I am in the process of building a home on some other property I own, which could be considered bunker like.

theshytype -> RE: You have to wonder about people.... (10/16/2013 7:34:36 PM)
quote: Why live somewhere that mother nature has made it clear that given half the chance, she is gonna try and kill you? I've often wondered the same. Especially after a major natural disaster and they interview someone stating they just rebuilt after the last ______. But, if I had the chance to live oceanfront I would. Regardless of risk. Sometimes, it's just worth it. I from Michigan, though, and the closest thing to a major disaster I can think of involves closing a highway due to construction.

Paladin9 -> RE: You have to wonder about people.... (10/16/2013 8:36:14 PM)
I'll take earthquakes over any other disaster. Those that live in tornado alley or in the hurricane zones - ugh they happen every year and eventually you will get lucky and lose everything. Been in So Cal 60 years and been in many earthquakes, less than 3 miles from the Whittier one when it hit. Landers put my pool water 4ft up the side of my house and no damage. I'll take the earthquake zones.

Marc2b -> RE: You have to wonder about people.... (10/17/2013 6:51:06 AM)
As has been noted by others there is no place that is one hundred percent safe but I suspect that the number one reason people stay in a particular are is simply that it is home... and you know that there is no place like home.

eulero83 -> RE: You have to wonder about people.... (10/17/2013 8:11:21 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: jlf1961 A friend of mine from high school recently returned from Italy where he had been studying Mt. Vesuvius and told me 3 million people live in the danger zone if the volcano blows again like it did when it buried Herculium and Pompeii. This reminded me of all the people who have had homes destroyed by lava flows in Hawaii during the current eruption, not to mention all the people who are buying homes on the slopes of volcanoes from California to Washington. Okay, volcanic soil is some really fertile stuff, great for farming. And the views are breathtaking.... But what about when the volcano decides to blow its top? Then there are all the people living in earthquake zones, landslide zones, and other geologically questionable areas. Why live somewhere that mother nature has made it clear that given half the chance, she is gonna try and kill you? I think the last time Vesuvio erupted (killing someone) was just after WWII when american soldiers were still in the city, the last time Etna created problems was like in the '90s but I don't remember about victims. I think the biggest reason is this kind of events have long return periods, devastating earthquakes can take also few generation intervals, so first settlers just didn't realized the real danger and than people tend to stay where they born. There would be a lot to talk about Naple's life phylosophy but it would fall in the "racial slurs" category.

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