Re: [at-l] Re: at-l-digest/Gatewood

>
>
>At 07:08 PM 1/1/00 -0500, Saunterer wrote:
>
>>Grandma Gatewood walked out on her own because she accepted the idea that
>>she was primarily responsible for 'rescuing' herself. She didn't sit down,
>>place a cell phone call and say "come and get me". It wasn't December on
>>Mount Washington and the folks looking for her weren't putting their lives
>>at extreme risk to find her. I think this is the crux of this discussion.
>>The folks who are likely to be charged are the ones who ignore common
>>sense, walk past warning signs and blow off the advice of Rangers and
other
>>hikers to put themselves into situations with a high potential for deadly
>>outcome then blithly place a cell phone call for help as if it was as
>>simple as calling for a cab.
>
>Want people to use less of something?  Charge more for it.  Works.  Sock
>people for search-and-rescue, widely advertise the fact, and you'll find
>more people behaving like Grandma Gatewood.  This is why I think it makes
>sense for the NH folks to let us all know that we may be charged.  Of
>course, an unintended side-effect may be that some people who really need
>to be rescued may choose not to place a call because they don't want to pay
>a bunch of money for the rescue.
>
>Gosh, I think maybe I'm glad I'm not on a search-and-rescue team.  My head
>hurts.
>
>This whole discussion reminds me of a thought I've been simmering for quite
>some time.  It seems to me that technology really drives social mores to a
>huge extent, because new technologies constantly create new situations for
>which we haven't thought through the ethical dimensions.  Ten years ago,
>there was no need to discuss the merits of rescuing people who have placed
>a cell phone call from the top of Mt. Madison because they need some
>parmesan cheese for their pizza; there were no cell phones.  When personal
>anti-gravity cars (a la Dick Tracy) become a reality, just think of the
>endless discussions people will have about whether it's OK to use them to
>get to your favorite fishing hole up in the mountains...
>* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List |  http://www.backcountry.net  *
>

* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List |  http://www.backcountry.net  *

==============================================================================