Editing Talk:1170: Bridge

I am ''definitely'' going to do this to someone!
~tartilc

Ahhh it's been a while since the last classic. This one is instant.
-Adam

Note that the Cueball's argument doesn't really defeat the idea behind the phrase. Jumping off the bridge JUST because your friends did is still bad idea. What you should do is analyse situation. In best case, FIND the logical reason why your friends jumped, although it's true that spending too much time analysing can be dangerous. Also, look WHERE are your friends jumping too and if they landed alive. In many catastrophic scenarios, panic can kill more people that the catastrophe. That said, statistically speaking, if all your friends jumped off the bridge, there probably IS reason why they did it and you WILL probably do the same - not because they jumped, but for the same reason they jumped. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:01, 6 February 2013 (UTC)
:But cueball didn't go for reasonably check why they jumped before making the decision. From what I understood, his argument, even if not the best idea, is to trust the friends judgement and jump too. Jump first, ask questions later. [[Special:Contributions/189.123.129.34|189.123.129.34]] 18:11, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

In Hong Kong, Moms use "jump off the building" instead of bridge. (Too many skyscrapers, tall apartments right here, only really rich people live in houses). Ok, next time I will argue with her with this when I am going to do something stupid LOL [[Special:Contributions/123.202.19.132|123.202.19.132]] 09:08, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

I probably one of the people who will not jump right away, at least think and looking around first. Yes it need some time and may cost me, but that's me. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 21:37, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

Cueball's argument assumes that each of his friends made independent decisions to jump off a bridge.  However, if his other friends were reasoning in a similar fashion to Cueball, they may have come to the conclusion that the bridge was on fire after only a single person jumped.  This herd behaviour is exactly what the adage is to remind one of. --[[Special:Contributions/128.135.70.143|128.135.70.143]] 21:56, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

I always was of the opinion that if '''all''' my friends DID jump off a bridge, I would probably jump off too, because I'd be far too depressed at the thought of all my friends being dead. Can you imagine living with that trauma? And who exactly is going to console you through it? All the likely candidates are dead! - [[User:KeithTyler|KeithTyler]] ([[User talk:KeithTyler|talk]]) 21:58, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, did a comic similar to this one in 1999: [http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1999-11-21/ Young Dilbert] --[[Special:Contributions/24.145.230.202|24.145.230.202]] 01:10, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

I think the point is that if you choose your friends wisely you can trust their logic. If they ALL jumped, ther must be a reason, unless you hang out with morons.
-Adam
:Or they have been all influenced by some gas or radiation, so cannot reason logically. :-) [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 17:16, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

I can't help but notice: We've all heard this, right? So basically, a lot of persons repeat saying that after having heard another say it. Should it make them question their logic? Not really. Saying this adage is kind of a fine example where doing something just because so many others did it, is rather stupid.
-thelvin

I wonder what Cueball and his friends were going to do?  On the face of it, it didn't appear to be anything all that dangerous.  His mother, if she was using this argument out of reflex, probably just got her comeuppance for applying it in an inappropriate context.  Poor mom.  She probably already has too much on her hands, working for a living and raising a very intelligent kid, and now she has the extra chore of checking her metaphors carefully before use.  This should push her right to that old favorite, "Because!"[[Special:Contributions/24.79.11.46|24.79.11.46]] 20:42, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

So Mom, got her comeuppance? Isn't this exactly what she wanted her son to do, examine what was going on and make a logical decision based on it... the fact that he said "their must be a reason", means she failed of course and must retrain him. So now she just has to say..."Ok, you can go as long as you can demonstrate to me the value of you attending (said function) and those that will be denied to you by not attending and doing something more socially responsible!18:24, 11 February 2013 (UTC) MI Ranger 11 Feb 2013


I want to do this! Except that it requires having friends...
Wait... All my friends are doing it is still a valid argument, since any expression of the form 'All X are Y' is always true whenever X (my friends) is an empty set! (vacuously true)[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.244|141.101.98.244]] 21:57, 3 November 2013 (UTC)
Much simpler... Up until the parent asks about bridge jumping, everything is the same: then cueball says "yeah. We're going bungee jumping." {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.35}}

If I ever have children, and the situation comes where I'll have to say "If all your friends...", I'll say it and see how they answer.
:If they give up on doing what they were going to do, I'll tell them they're wrong and then expose the idea of this comic.
:If, instead, they respond with the idea of this comic, then I raised them well.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.18|108.162.212.18]] 01:37, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Wait a second.... If the bridge is on fire, then you're probably a wolf. So your friends would jump off WITHOUT the bridge being on fire, simply because they see a wolf.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.141|173.245.50.141]] 20:29, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

According to my mom, I was such a smartass as a kid that she knew not to say this to me... But when she tried it on my sister, I butted in with, "that's probably the best time every to jump, with all those friends to cushion her fall". [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.180|199.27.130.180]] 02:02, 19 September 2015 (UTC)

:You read the TV Tropes article, didn't you. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 09:08, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

* weak explanation, sorry. What about those cookies? [[User:Yamaplos|Yamaplos]] ([[User talk:Yamaplos|talk]]) 00:06, 1 July 2020 (UTC)

"If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?"
"...What friends?"
":("
"Me! I'll jump with you!"