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Maybe I'm being unfair, but I'm skeptical about the aunt. I have a family member who tries to take center stage anytime there's a tragedy, and that interview reminded me of her.
Even if it's true that Suleman didn't want to go, what possible good can come of emphasizing that now? It just piles even more guilt and grief on her sister-in-law.

I admire the bravery of discovery. If we hadn’t had brave people willing to sail, fly, dive… we would probably be long extinct as a human race. The key-word in my post is "holiday". This is recreational-stupidity.

I don't think people who do these types of excursions think it's a holiday. I think their frame of mind is more like 'experience of something unique'. If you think about it, there was nothing relaxing about this particular experience. You fly to Canada, sail to the site on rough sea, wait for the right dive conditions, do the dive in one day, and back the same way you came. 10 days to experience something for a few hours. So whoever does this must have a profound interest in the subject.

As for relaxing holidays, scuba diving is my thing. For a short period of time, time literally stops and you must live in the moment. So I understand the appeal of exploring the underwater. But there is also a reason why diving deep is dangerous and not broadly commercialised.

Yeah… I get that too… I have colleagues that take "vacations" where the do Iron Man or cycle a gazillion mile up mountains. My remote fishing trips take a physical toll and although I come mentally refreshed I usually need a week to physically recover. I can get that.

But I think that some of these events are more "been-there-did-that-and-have-the-certificate-where-everyone-can-see" rather than some real fascination for the Titanic or the rings of Jupiter.

I guess we have all dreamed about what we would do if we won money in the lottery.
If I won enough cash to make a safe investment give me an inflation+2% rate that gave me 50k after taxes… I wouldn’t feel a need to invest in some risky scheme where I could possibly make 200k per year – or loose it all. Yet that tends to be what many winners do – lose it all from risky investments.
I think some of the super-rich are super-rich because they did take these risks and it paid off. This time it didn’t…

I admire the bravery of discovery. If we hadn’t had brave people willing to sail, fly, dive… we would probably be long extinct as a human race. The key-word in my post is "holiday". This is recreational-stupidity.

Man, I tried to say that above but never got the words right. These words say it.

Discovery and exploring IS admirable. Paying someone to take one along on a trip that follows discovery is immensely passive and I have a hard time admiring it.

Riding a bike up the Tourmalet or Alpe d'Huez or Pike's Peak or Mt. Rainier, etc. as part of a supported group isn't the same as riding (and staying) with with the Tour de France peloton, but it surely is a great accomplishment for any cyclist; it's something the vast majority of cyclists simply can't do.

I haven't thought highly of summiting Everest as a vacation, but this thread has taught me I'm wrong - no one carries the tourists up the mountain. The hard work of discovery is already done, although I'm sure there's more to learn. Doing the hard work of climbing the mountain is beyond my imagination.

I'm sorry the 5 died. I wish more attention were paid to the 100s who died in the overloaded fishing boat catastrophe this week.

I'm sorry the 5 died. I wish more attention were paid to the 100s who died in the overloaded fishing boat catastrophe this week.

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I had the same thoughts.

Smartest billionaires using an off brand video game controller to control the sub. They also drilled their monitor into the hull...

As long as you have any common sense you'd be fine doing any of these things. Just thinking about how these things work is amazing. The fact that we landed on the moon in the 60s when asbestos was still used in houses, insulation, floors, etc is amazing as well as it recently became code to have grounding wires in all rooms of the house besides kitchen,bath, utility, and garage.

[This message edited by 40kSpaceMarine at 7:05 PM, Saturday, June 24th]

I love watching the Bezos rocket, not sure the name, but damn it looks rickety as hell. No thanks, and if I’m ever missing in a rocket or a submarine, the memes better be funny 😄

As long as you have any common sense you'd be fine doing any of these things.

I'm guessing that you mean that anyone who prides themselves on common sense wouldn't have gotten into that particular submersible, but might have undertaken the dive in a worthy vessel?

I don't think that common sense is the predominant trait of most risk-takers, like climbers, they just deem the experience worth the risk. From what I understand, they NEED to do it. They take all the precautions that they can, but they know from the outset that things can go fatally wrong.

Watching documentaries is the bedtime routine at my house. There's a really good one on Prime called Dirtbag about Fred Beckey, who spent his whole life seeking the next climb and recording first ascents. The man climbed into his 90s! I highly recommend it, because it's really interesting, but also because it's a good peek into the mindset of a risk-taker.

There's another one called Alone Across the Arctic - also on Prime - that's also really good. The guy spent months trekking across Canada on foot and with a kayak. 4000 kms.

I love the water, boating. I have thought about this more than I should have. If someone offered me a free trip on that thing even before last week it would have been 0% chance I would have done it. I figured the only way I would have would have been if I was paid a ridiculous amount of money prior to departure. Like 50 mil. That way my family would be taken care of financially.

Yeah, I agree with OwingItNow…

Not so much a matter of "would I pay $250.000 to do it", but more like "Would I do it if they paid ME?"

Still a big ole NO!!!