Death and Dying : November 7

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

Welcome to class everyone. I was very impressed by your midterms, and enjoyed reading them over the weekend. If you would like an update on your progress, feel free to approach me after class.

Lecture and Handouts on Odds of Dying

Looking at the statistics I gave you, are you surprised by any of the numbers? Shocked? Amused? Disgusted? Why or why not?


For class on Wednesday, please read these materials on spontaneous combustion. And if you have any scientific question on the matter, I ask you wait until class on Wednesday to ask me directly, and do not consult other teachers, like, let's say, Ms. Sidle. And if you ask her, don't tell her it is for this class. Uhhh... thanks.

[Right, it's Monday. I knew that. *Head/Face/Fists/Assorted Limbs + Desk*]

Comments

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty looks over the statistics and smirks. He wonders if people realized how many deaths were actually made to "look" like accidents.

"Aren't statistics really driven by the person making the study though? I mean I've heard of people using the bible and the phonebook to show statistical anomalies that aren't really true."

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

"In some cases, yes, that is absolutely true, and in studies like these based on data from such large pools of data and even a census, certainly they cannot be 100% accurate, but it is safe to assume that from a reputable source such as this, the numbers fall within the margin of error and can be perceived as valid."

[marieann-d.livejournal.com]

"Only 5 people died of fireworks discharge? From all the fuss they make about it, I'd have thought it'd be higher." Rogue shrugs. "Guess 4th of July isn't so dangerous after all."

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

Grissom nods, "More people died of venomous spider bites than fireworks. Some types of deaths receive more publicity than others due to the nature of the accident, and that leads the public to believe in some cases that there is a higher probability of suffering that type of accidental death. However, this doesn't take into account how many people are burned or otherwise injured by fireworks, which surely is a much higher number."

[marieann-d.livejournal.com]

Rogue considers this and nods. "True. My little brother has a nifty scar on his arm from a bottle rocket." She shrugs. "But it still shows that there's a, a, kind of panic that the media perpetuates about it. I wonder what the stats are on injury?"

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

"Up to 10,000 people a year are treated in emergency rooms, and many of those are children," Grissom says solemnly. "Maybe in this case, the media's perpetuation of the dangers are a bit false, but ultimately has an effect on the population that is positive. The threat of death might keep someone from fooling around with fireworks, but maybe just the chance of injury isn't enough to dissuade some from dangerous activities that could hurt a child. Although that doesn't seem to stop some people."

[equalsmcsquared.livejournal.com]

[OOC: *sporfle* Grissom is a dead man.]

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

[psycho-barbie.livejournal.com]

Callisto blinks, "Wow, I never realised that there were quite so many ways to die."

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

"Oh yeah!" Grissom smiles. "You really can't underestimate how strange the human condition is."

[forlornslayer.livejournal.com]

Buffy read over the odds handouts with more than a little discomfort.

"Some statistics are never measured," she said sadly.

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

Grissom nods, tilting his head slightly. "That's true. There are always... events, that occur outside of the framework of... mainstream society. In those cases, we can't properly study statistics."

[allie-cameron.livejournal.com]

Allie looks over the list.

"I think it's ironic that so many people are afraid to fly but have no qualms about getting in a car when there were more than 16,000 vehicular deaths and only 600 flight deaths."

[stykera]

Why do you keep track of what sorts of deaths they die? Does it help anything?

*Stark looked at the numbers. They were kind of interesting though.*

People do die interesting deaths sometimes though. I didn't realize your transportation was so dangerous.

[harried-potter.livejournal.com]

*was in class, and not all a day to late*