Talk:1170: Bridge

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 17:16, 8 February 2013 by Arifsaha (talk | contribs)
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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. -- 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. 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 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. 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. --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! - KeithTyler (talk) 21:58, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, did a comic similar to this one in 1999: Young Dilbert --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. :-) 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!"24.79.11.46 20:42, 7 February 2013 (UTC)