David Blaine doesn't interest me that much, but while I was watching a few minutes of his show tonight, they mentioned Audrey Mestre. She died while trying to break the world record for free- diving. I find most normal people somewhat boring, and also those who are definitely insane. But for some reason, the people who lie in between are much more intriguing.

I dont know the biology that well, but im going to assume that diving 570 feet without oxygen will give you at least a 1 percent chance of dying.
So my question is, even supposing an activity is pretty fun and/or rewarding, at what level does it become insanely dangerous? I dont think there is any clearcut definition of insanity, but it's fun to try to figure out where the line might be.


What would it take to expose yourself to a 1 in 1000 chance of dying? 1 in 100? 1 in 10?





What would Audrey do?

It's the only way some people enjoy life. They are dead if they don't do these sorts of activities.

I thought similar thoughts when I saw a video of one of the world's best base-jumpers decide to get in a glider suit and nail a suspension bridge.

I don't get my kicks from risking my life, so I wouldn't risk anything.

Btw, I'll bet she died from decompression and not from lack of oxygen.

I was thinking more along the lines of how much money would it take for you to play 1000 to 1 russian roulette.

lets suppose someone offers you 100 million for a 1 in 1000 chance of dying. granted, i am completely broke and seem to have a fairly bleak future, but i would take that offer without hesitation. so what odds would it take to make it a break-even offer?

I just read a few articles about her.

"freediving" has to be the dumbest thing ever invented. Strap yourself to a sled, go deep underwater, then let a balloon bring you back up...

She didn't deserve to die, and it's a sad thing...but how ****ing stupid can you be? You might as well just have someone suffocate you with a plastic bag for a designated amount of time...going longer and longer until eventually you die.

I'd take that bet 3 in 1.

well i know a lot of people who do extasy. isnt that like a 1 in 100,000 chance of dying or something? i read that somewhere at least.

Pretty sure that number goes down when you keep doing it and your spine starts melting. I don't think the one-time chance is that high though, unless you're incredible dumb and don't hydrate yourself.

Also, I figured I kinda had to post in this thread. Carry on.

When it comes to analyzing serial killers, one finds that most of them are sociopaths, or have strong sociopathic tendencies. And one theory about why sociopaths do such ridiculous and crazy stuff is because they experience the world a lot differently than you or I do. Doing something that may be exciting for me is boring for them; they feel like they are just going through the motions as if in a dream. To try and get a fuller life experience, they go through the 'exciting' life of manipulating and killing people and stuff like that.

It's also estimated that 4-5% of at least the US population has these types of sociopathic tendencies (obviously some worse than others). So, I guess that was a long winded way of saying that maybe that's how these people get their kicks; they're just looking for some exciting stimulation that they can't get doing regular stuff like normal people can.

I dunno if that means insanity or not.

AA defines insanity

Insanity is repeating the same actions, while expecting different results.


I'm not sure how I know this, but I am sure I need a drink.

This is a depressing thread...

It would probably take $10000 to make me play the 1-1000 Russian Roulette game. It would take a million dollars to make me do the 1 in 100 thing. I don't think I would do the 1/10 thing for any amount of material possessions.

I play russian roulette everyday - a man's sport!! with a bullet called life....ya called life

I think you need to move the decimal place to the right a couple places.

"At your age I looked for hardship, danger, horror, and death, that I might feel the life in me more intensely. I did not let the fear of death govern my life; and my reward was, I had my life."

If anyone guesses what play that is from, then i'll be absolutely stunned.

I'll take that bet, because you're wrong. Why didn't they give her oxygen when her balloon failed? Because it would have killed her. Decompression sickness only comes into play when you breathe underwater.

most likely heartbreak house by george bernard shaw.

isnt google great?

According to House:

the OP here defines insanity:

http://www.fullcontactpoker.com/poker-foru...showtopic=60342