Risk and family.

Some people perform very dangerous stunts. Then they die while performing the stunts. Then the whole world goes ape-shit as if these deaths were unexpected. One of the world's greatest rally drivers, Carlos Sainz, is one of the world's greatest rally drivers because even in practice, his car had a regulation roll-cage and fire-suppression system. He is still rallying because he leaves nothing to chance.

There is a thrill to taking risks. The rush that comes with letting go of the ledge and jumping without the benefit of a safety net or a reserve parachute is intoxicating. You blood pumps just a beat faster - you are, for that moment of risk, the king of the world. It is a heady feeling that can quickly become addictive. When tragedy strikes, the whole world feels it, but not as much as the ones whose lives are inextricably entwined with that of the risk-taker.

It is an extremely selfish thing to found a family and then endanger its welfare by endangering ones life. No one is saying that life comes with a lifetime guarantee; that s why we have religion, alcohol and the insurance industry. But it is extremely selfish to ignore that ones life has changed as soon as one gets married and has children. Your life is no longer yours to endanger willy-nilly. The consequences of your injury or death reverberate beyond the finances; the emotional core of the family is also shattered and a child will be forced to grow up raised by a single parent or strangers.

When one endangers his life, that is one thing. But in the search of greater and greater adrenaline rushes, if he endangers the life of the public it is time someone stepped in and reminded him that the public commons are not his own playground. In the hedonistic west, where the pursuit of pleasure seems to consume the people's lives, where there is even a hint of danger to the public, stringent measures are established to protect the people. Thus, if one is jumping off a cliff clad in a wing suit, you are likely to find that the authorities will have cordoned of a zone for him to jump and should catastrophe strike, only the jumper pays the price.

We are all touched when a brave soul dies. We feel for the dead and we are sorrowful for the loved ones they leave behind. We should be angry that a life is snuffed out due to the selfishness of the adventurer, but we aren't because the adventurer lives the life we wished we lived, taking risks without a care in the world. But we all have a capacity to care, and it is why we slow down when we become spouses and parents. It is why we think twice before we jump off a ledge. Our desire to make our loved ones smile overrides our desire to jump off cliffs in winged suits or race around in the dark in cars that don't have roll cages.