Welcome back to another exciting episode of "hey man, the rules don't apply to me!!!"
http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.s ... river_home
National Park Morons
Re: National Park Morons
Standout quote:
Anyway...the cynical news critic in me observes that news outlets love opportunities to bundle and repackage previous stories, as the AP did here. But it's also true that we expect our news sources to report more than individual stories. We want them to watch for connections and notice trends, so I think this AP content is substantive.
Naturally, the selfie craze was mentioned, and I have no doubt that social media contributes to bad behavior, but I wonder if it's exaggerated. Perhaps we laugh at the narcissistic and attribute our collective problems to them, at least a little. I dunno, just wondering. I've never posted a selfie myself, so it's not that I'm getting defensive.
When bad-hiker behavior comes up, I'm often intrigued at the crowd paradox: do sheer numbers make things worse? More visitors will, of course, draw in more of a certain element (e.g. as crowds increase you'll see more anthropologists, or any other category you pick). But do crowds actually make people behave worse? Maybe, but it seems weird to me. If everybody's watching, most people will behave themselves (unless we're talking about mobs of people misbehaving, but that's probably not at play here).
Oh, almost forgot to mention, a prof was quoted saying something about the carnival atmosphere at Yellowstone, IIRC. Yeah, I agree. I mean, I've never been there, but in general I decry the disneyfication of nature. I think even little things like concessionaires and lodges can make a place seem less special, and so as more public services get farmed out (as is happening, per conventional wisdom) we'll see people hold public lands in lower regard.
Imagine trying to maintain a professional composure after hearing that.She said she was eager to see a grizzly up close.
"I want to see one right there," Morrow said, pointing to a spot just feet away. "I'd throw it a cookie."
Anyway...the cynical news critic in me observes that news outlets love opportunities to bundle and repackage previous stories, as the AP did here. But it's also true that we expect our news sources to report more than individual stories. We want them to watch for connections and notice trends, so I think this AP content is substantive.
Naturally, the selfie craze was mentioned, and I have no doubt that social media contributes to bad behavior, but I wonder if it's exaggerated. Perhaps we laugh at the narcissistic and attribute our collective problems to them, at least a little. I dunno, just wondering. I've never posted a selfie myself, so it's not that I'm getting defensive.
When bad-hiker behavior comes up, I'm often intrigued at the crowd paradox: do sheer numbers make things worse? More visitors will, of course, draw in more of a certain element (e.g. as crowds increase you'll see more anthropologists, or any other category you pick). But do crowds actually make people behave worse? Maybe, but it seems weird to me. If everybody's watching, most people will behave themselves (unless we're talking about mobs of people misbehaving, but that's probably not at play here).
Oh, almost forgot to mention, a prof was quoted saying something about the carnival atmosphere at Yellowstone, IIRC. Yeah, I agree. I mean, I've never been there, but in general I decry the disneyfication of nature. I think even little things like concessionaires and lodges can make a place seem less special, and so as more public services get farmed out (as is happening, per conventional wisdom) we'll see people hold public lands in lower regard.