According to this article from The Telegraph, more people have died taking selfies this year than have died from shark attacks.
First reaction: Seriously?
Second reaction: So, the absolute numbers of both are so small that comparing them are meaningless, right?
Well, I don’t know. According to the article:
Selfie deaths have become so rife in Russia that the government released a guide detailing how not to die while taking a picture of yourself.
In the guide, it is advised that selfie takers don’t balance on dangerous surfaces or pose with loaded weapons, among other tips….Yellowstone National Park has also been plagued by the problem, issuing a warning about taking selfies with bison after five people were gored.
Oh, yes, I’d heard about a national park that closed because people wouldn’t stop taking selfies with bears.
Third reaction: Oh for God’s sake, think of this as evolution in action.
Of course, most idiots do survive. Apparently there have been 19 deaths caused by taking selfies since 2014. How does that compare to deaths from people who, say, try to catch rattlesnakes with their bare hands or whatever? I’m not going to try to track down ridiculous ways to die, but I bet selfies aren’t in the top ten.
Incidentally, I’ve read that more than 400,000 deaths per year are caused by preventable hospital accidents. Just sayin’.
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Snopes has an article on why comparing sharks and selfies isn’t really valid.
The Snopes article is useless. Killed while taking a selfie is real. And yes, it is funny. Also, my favorite Darwin award is “killed (while drunk) by grenade in car after forgetting to first roll down window.” So YMMV.
Well, with tiny sample sizes, any comparisons are going to be iffy. But still.
One of my favorites was “Fell off balcony while standing on rolling chair to water plants”. As you say, YMMV.