Resilience - Individual Skills

[Nimbus]

I wonder if the likes of @Nimbus and @Ortholith shake their heads with despair when they hear of the brainlessness of some people. They get taught the basics of mechanics and electrical theory - but they still seem to not understand that a faster a vehicle goes, the more stopping it takes. They also seem to fail to understand overloading electrical sockets and cables.

Then they fail to be able to understand things like graphs and numbers, or that mixing chemicals without checking the label (eg bleach and washing up liquid - NO) is often a bad idea.

 

[Dicky Ticker]

I wonder if the likes of @Nimbus and @Ortholith shake their heads with despair when they hear of the brainlessness of some people. They get taught the basics of mechanics and electrical theory - but they still seem to not understand that a faster a vehicle goes, the more stopping it takes. They also seem to fail to understand overloading electrical sockets and cables.

Then they fail to be able to understand things like graphs and numbers, or that mixing chemicals without checking the label (eg bleach and washing up liquid - NO) is often a bad idea.

Part of the problem is that, because we have lost the ability to filter out the stupid things because we were told at an early age not to, the law now requires us to think of all the stupid things that people can do and put warnings in place to tell you not to. End result - more warnings than the sensible person needs and people don't read them.

Health and safety law requires us as manufacturers to consider everything that a person could do with our product, including the really stupid things, and make an attempt to prevent that misuse being harmful. Stupid people are too damn clever, clever people mentally go "no-one would be stupid enough to to that" while someone at some point will go "hey, what happens if I eat that pod of clothing detergent....."

 

[Nimbus]

Part of the problem is that, because we have lost the ability to filter out the stupid things because we were told at an early age not to, the law now requires us to think of all the stupid things that people can do and put warnings in place to tell you not to. End result - more warnings than the sensible person needs and people don't read them.

Health and safety law requires us as manufacturers to consider everything that a person could do with our product, including the really stupid things, and make an attempt to prevent that misuse being harmful. Stupid people are too damn clever, clever people mentally go "no-one would be stupid enough to to that" while someone at some point will go "hey, what happens if I eat that pod of clothing detergent....."

Indeed. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
Read any instruction manual, and the first 10 pages will tell you all some the foolish things you should not do, then a page of how to use the item.
The sooner labels say ‘Take responsibility and don’t be feckin stupid with this’ and Ambulance Chasers are told “Feck off, s/he had it coming”, the sooner we will return to being the Nation that owned most of the world.

 

[Ortholith]

I wonder if the likes of @Nimbus and @Ortholith shake their heads with despair when they hear of the brainlessness of some people.
They get taught the basics of mechanics and electrical theory - but they still seem to not understand that a faster a vehicle goes, the more stopping it takes. They also seem to fail to understand overloading electrical sockets and cables.

Nope, I'm resigned to it. No matter what you do the stupid will always win through sheer force of numbers.
I've had conversations on why it's a bad idea to poke a paperclip into a plug socket, why we should pick up glass bottles by the bottle and not the (unsecured) lid, why we shouldn't stress test a sensitive electronic balance by pressing down on it as hard as possible etc. Every time the reason wasn't deliberate destruction/chaos, just a complete lack of awareness of what might happen / didn't care if things got broken.

I'm all for doing things that were silly in hindsight, providing there was some thought and awareness in the present.

Part of the issue might be that a lot of warnings are for things that won't be a problem if ignored which encourages a culture of 'warnings are for bellends, I'll do what I want and be fine' (and I'm guilty of that mindset a lot of the time when reading official guidance). Health and Safety have something to answer for if that is the case as I have to tell kids to put safety glasses on when they boil a kettle.

Then they fail to be able to understand things like graphs and numbers, or that mixing chemicals without checking the label (eg bleach and washing up liquid - NO) is often a bad idea.

Washing up liquid and bleach should be fine (never tried it), it's acid and bleach that recreates WWI by generating chlorine gas.

 

[happyuk]

This has got me thinking of Texas folks who are having to improvise right now in conditions in which a long night or day without heat, power and/or water can be worrying and energy-sapping, often with no information or end in sight. Melting snow for water, working hard to keep warm in subzero temperatures, keeping animals alive, charging devices from vehicles, and so on.

Water and heat are always the critical things and so easily taken for granted especially if one already has previously undergone such an unpleasant experience. You don't know what you've got till it's gone! Many of the learning points from all this are obvious.

Never think this can't happen to you.
Never think it can't happen to you again.
The weather can do anything it wants, anywhere in the world.
Power and water can go down anywhere in the world, as well.

 

[Fang_Farrier]

This has got me thinking of Texas folks who are having to improvise right now in conditions in which a long night or day without heat, power and/or water can be worrying and energy-sapping, often with no information or end in sight. Melting snow for water, working hard to keep warm in subzero temperatures, keeping animals alive, charging devices from vehicles, and so on.

Water and heat are always the critical things and so easily taken for granted especially if one already has previously undergone such an unpleasant experience. You don't know what you've got till it's gone! Many of the learning points from all this are obvious.

Never think this can't happen to you.
Never think it can't happen to you again.
The weather can do anything it wants, anywhere in the world.
Power and water can go down anywhere in the world, as well.

Divers called in to clear ice from Kinlochbervie water supply

Scottish Water had to call in a team of divers to north west Sutherland last week to clear ice from a water supply intake.

www.northern-times.co.uk

This was coupled with power cuts due to the high wind and snow