Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit • Hacker News Board

Re: Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit

#111

Post by cageface » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 3:20 AM UTC

orthoganol wrote: post #63

sandworm101 wrote: post #49

Forgetting the laws, what sort of people can so casually kill like this? There are basic human instincts not to hurt people. Armies have to train soldiers to ignore these feelings because without training most won't kill even under combat situations. So when I see someone kill so casually I have to believe that they have rehearsed the scenario in their head beforehand. That means a large number of chinese people driv…

I lived in China for a few months. The way it was explained to me was, it's you and your family, and everyone else can f * off.

Been living in Vietnam for the last five years. It's the same way here. Maybe it's the Chinese influence?

Re: Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit

#112

Post by TickleMeHellNo » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 3:20 AM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #49

Forgetting the laws, what sort of people can so casually kill like this? There are basic human instincts not to hurt people. Armies have to train soldiers to ignore these feelings because without training most won't kill even under combat situations. So when I see someone kill so casually I have to believe that they have rehearsed the scenario in their head beforehand. That means a large number of chinese people driv…

Not trying to be edgy, and this is a throwaway, you saying you couldn't just casually kill someone if you'd been programmed to?

Re: Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit

#113

Post by chaostheory » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 3:21 AM UTC

copperx wrote: post #96

AdeptusAquinas wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The book Guns, germs and steel retorts that fit the majority of human history (I.e the last hundred thousand years or so) most human encounters with other humans who were not family resulted in death for one party or another. Still the case in some isolated areas. Only the growth of societies really changed that default inclination, out of necessity.

That seems awfully murderous. Not even animals of the same race face that fate.

That's not true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gombe_Chimpanzee_War

That's just one example and it isn't exclusive to primates.

Re: Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit

#114

Post by mistermann » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 3:22 AM UTC

Xcelerate wrote: post #77

I could not finish this article. I have read about and seen a lot of disturbing things, but this bothers me far more than any horror movie or shock film ever could. The situation exposed in this article evidences something really fundamental about human nature: the banality of evil. That someone could run over a toddler and then reverse back and forth over them just so they only have to pay $50,000 instead of $400,00…

> Time and again I'm reminded that most people are really only "good" because it benefits them personally in some way.

I don't know if that's the general nature of people though - I think when people have enough, but not too much, they're generally good. But if you're below or above that middle bound, things start to go bad. If you're below, natural hunger and base instincts for survival drive your behavior. But if you're above that "safe" level, it seems like a lot of people go a little wonky - lots of people who get to a significantly higher level, it's almost like it sets off a switch in their brain and it turns into a game, where they can't resist seeing how much they can get, damn the consequences.

Re: Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit

#115

Post by bwhite » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 3:22 AM UTC

titfn wrote: post #100

sandworm101 wrote: post #49

Forgetting the laws, what sort of people can so casually kill like this? There are basic human instincts not to hurt people. Armies have to train soldiers to ignore these feelings because without training most won't kill even under combat situations. So when I see someone kill so casually I have to believe that they have rehearsed the scenario in their head beforehand. That means a large number of chinese people driv…

it's the same in many states in the US... for example, if you are going to shoot someone, make sure that you kill them, if you don't want to go to jail...

Is there really a situation in which the punishment for killing is lighter than for wounding, especially with a weapon/vehicle?? Or are you speaking less formally: that you might never get caught for the kill if there's nobody to turn you in?

Re: Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit

#116

Post by forgetsusername » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 3:22 AM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #69

totony wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are basic human instincts not to hurt people. citation needed I don't think this is "human instinct". Looks more like a moral construct.

Not the best source, but this is common knowledge in many circles: "In a squad of 10 men, on average fewer than three ever fired their weapons in combat. Day in, day out — it did not matter how long they had been soldiers, how many months of combat they had seen, or even that the enemy was about to overrun their position. This was what the highly regarded Brigadier General Samuel Lyman Atwood Marshall, better known a…

>during World War II

What about the previous quarter million years of modern humans killing other humans?

Re: Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit

#117

Post by droopybuns » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 3:22 AM UTC

Why should I trust an article like this?

Outrageous claims. No sources. pageviews.exe

Re: Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit

#118

Post by ilaksh » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 3:23 AM UTC

I'd like to hear the Chinese perspective.

Also, what penalties do people pay in the US if they accidentally cripple someone?

Re: Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit

#119

Post by gech » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 3:24 AM UTC

ptc wrote: post #29

malkia wrote: post #14

I've heard of a similar story, but in a different context. One of the asian airlines (I don't remember whether it was Taiwan, South Korean, etc.) had problems and lots of crashes. Turns out, people were not accustomed of questioning their bosses, and if this boss was your other co-pilot you would've never even try to correct them. I can't find the article, but it went something like "a western professor" goes to the…

Definitely a cultural thing, definitely not perverse incentives at all. See: http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2013/07/culturalism-gladwell-...

1. The analogy in the link is very poor. 2. Cultural differences are real. Offense is no refutation.

Re: Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit

#120

Post by modarts » Sat, Sep 05, 2015, 3:24 AM UTC

Xcelerate wrote: post #77

I could not finish this article. I have read about and seen a lot of disturbing things, but this bothers me far more than any horror movie or shock film ever could. The situation exposed in this article evidences something really fundamental about human nature: the banality of evil. That someone could run over a toddler and then reverse back and forth over them just so they only have to pay $50,000 instead of $400,00…

I'm seriously ill after reading this