I’m (probably) never going skydiving. I don’t get it.
But some people love it. In fact, for some people, skydiving isn’t enough. They need to put on a wing suit and jump off mountains!
It’s crazy. This next article helps me understand it a little better but…
Why do some people risk their lives for fun? [The Economist] – “This past year, thanks to covid-19, humans have faced a radical increase in risk. Governments and individuals have decided to make huge personal and financial sacrifices to protect people from an increased chance of death. Once-unremarkable activities, such as eating at a restaurant or visiting your grandchildren, are suddenly fraught with the fear of death. The response to the pandemic has shown the extent to which humans are risk-averse—it has proved quite how far they are willing to go to avoid a chance of dying prematurely. So why would anyone jump off a cliff, and willingly expose themselves to it?” The interesting part of this article is when you get past the potentially evolutionary reason (“men overestimate the extent to which females value their engaging in non-heroic risk-taking, such as bungee jumping or risky sports, says a 2005 study”) and get into the compartmentalization section (“People who enjoy jumping off cliffs will not necessarily be keen to put their money into risky investments, or take risks in their relationships.”).
A FIRE-Minded Approach to Life Insurance [Physician on FIRE] – “Essentially, you’d be betting just shy of $16,000, paid in installments over 20 years that 30 year-old you won’t live to see age 50. If you lose the bet, you’ve kept your life. Win the bet, you’re now dead, but your grieving family will be a multimillionare grieving family. That’s how term life insurance works.”
10 Things I’ll be Watching Closely in 2021 [The Irrelevant Investor] – “2020 was the wildest year in the stock market that any of us have ever seen. We had two of the five worst days ever, the fastest bear market ever, and the fastest recovery ever. Today I want to look forward and talk about some of the things I’m thinking about for 2021.”
Inside Bali’s Saddest, Most Abandoned Theme Park [Vice] – ““Have you ever seen a ghost?” I asked the gatekeeper. “Everyday,” he replied nonchalantly, gesturing to the bench he was sitting on. “Sometimes the kid ghost sits with me.””
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