The Missing Titanic Submarine

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Reluctant as I am to agree with you, it would have been nice if the missing boatload of refugees at least got equal coverage.

[ProfessorDetective]

Seconded on that. They just wanted a better life.

[McAvoy]

I am very annoyed by the coverage this has gotten. The lives of five people who risked their safety for a foolish adventure simply aren't worth the airtime the story takes away from more important stories that affect the lives of billions... yet even NPR kept breathlessly updating on it every news cycle.

The fact that it involved the Titanic was the main motivation for the headlines. If this was a sub checking out WW2 cargo ship USS Yolo, then it might be curiousity but not nearly the amount of press.

On a side note, I really hope this didn't damage the wreck. I know people died, but for me if would be the same if a car carrying five people rammed the Coliseum or went off road and crashed into Pompeii ruins.

[Madner Kami]

I am very annoyed by the coverage this has gotten. The lives of five people who risked their safety for a foolish adventure simply aren't worth the airtime the story takes away from more important stories that affect the lives of billions... yet even NPR kept breathlessly updating on it every news cycle.

The fact that it involved the Titanic was the main motivation for the headlines. If this was a sub checking out WW2 cargo ship USS Yolo, then it might be curiousity but not nearly the amount of press.

On a side note, I really hope this didn't damage the wreck. I know people died, but for me if would be the same if a car carrying five people rammed the Coliseum or went off road and crashed into Pompeii ruins.

The wreck will be gone within the next 10 to 20 years anyways.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

I am very annoyed by the coverage this has gotten. The lives of five people who risked their safety for a foolish adventure simply aren't worth the airtime the story takes away from more important stories that affect the lives of billions... yet even NPR kept breathlessly updating on it every news cycle.

The fact that it involved the Titanic was the main motivation for the headlines. If this was a sub checking out WW2 cargo ship USS Yolo, then it might be curiousity but not nearly the amount of press.

On a side note, I really hope this didn't damage the wreck. I know people died, but for me if would be the same if a car carrying five people rammed the Coliseum or went off road and crashed into Pompeii ruins.

If it was any sub going to the bottom of the ocean and it involved everybody sitting in one sport directly above them for days while not knowing if they're alive but knowing that if they are then they have a terminal amount of time left to live and it's come down to a matter of lack of technological resourcefulness that prevents us from saving them, then it would probably get similar coverage.

[McAvoy]

I am very annoyed by the coverage this has gotten. The lives of five people who risked their safety for a foolish adventure simply aren't worth the airtime the story takes away from more important stories that affect the lives of billions... yet even NPR kept breathlessly updating on it every news cycle.

The fact that it involved the Titanic was the main motivation for the headlines. If this was a sub checking out WW2 cargo ship USS Yolo, then it might be curiousity but not nearly the amount of press.

On a side note, I really hope this didn't damage the wreck. I know people died, but for me if would be the same if a car carrying five people rammed the Coliseum or went off road and crashed into Pompeii ruins.

If it was any sub going to the bottom of the ocean and it involved everybody sitting in one sport directly above them for days while not knowing if they're alive but knowing that if they are then they have a terminal amount of time left to live and it's come down to a matter of lack of technological resourcefulness that prevents us from saving them, then it would probably get similar coverage.

That I understand. Knowing full well those people may end up dying due to the impossibility of brining them back up in time. I can see plenty of press coverage.

But a sub goes missing with rumors happening even at that time it may have imploded anyway? Page four news.

[McAvoy]

I am very annoyed by the coverage this has gotten. The lives of five people who risked their safety for a foolish adventure simply aren't worth the airtime the story takes away from more important stories that affect the lives of billions... yet even NPR kept breathlessly updating on it every news cycle.

The fact that it involved the Titanic was the main motivation for the headlines. If this was a sub checking out WW2 cargo ship USS Yolo, then it might be curiousity but not nearly the amount of press.

On a side note, I really hope this didn't damage the wreck. I know people died, but for me if would be the same if a car carrying five people rammed the Coliseum or went off road and crashed into Pompeii ruins.

The wreck will be gone within the next 10 to 20 years anyways.

Much longer than that. Hundreds of years before it's basically just the engines and other thick metal parts, aside from the props. Even with the decks starting to pancake on the bow, it should still be recognizable for another 100 or so years according to soem estimates.

[Frustration]

If it was any sub going to the bottom of the ocean and it involved everybody sitting in one sport directly above them for days while not knowing if they're alive but knowing that if they are then they have a terminal amount of time left to live and it's come down to a matter of lack of technological resourcefulness that prevents us from saving them, then it would probably get similar coverage.

Yep. It's the same thing that makes people painfully conscious of the potential for a serious crash in an airplane even though the risk is actually much, much smaller than that of driving. Driving leaves us with at least the illusion of control, while flying in a plane takes away our ability to respond. So way more attention gets directed at plane crashes than such events really deserve and we ignore much greater risks that aren't so psychologically vivid.

The frequent talk about the amount of resources that were expended also annoys me. People say we can't just do nothing, but that's an obvious lie. We CAN, and we probably should. Just because a person is in danger doesn't mean we are obligated to assist them out of it.

[Riedquat]

Yep. It's the same thing that makes people painfully conscious of the potential for a serious crash in an airplane even though the risk is actually much, much smaller than that of driving. Driving leaves us with at least the illusion of control, while flying in a plane takes away our ability to respond. So way more attention gets directed at plane crashes than such events really deserve and we ignore much greater risks that aren't so psychologically vivid.

Or the risks of a car crash are what we actually find tolerable.

Western society overall these days is frequently absurdly risk-averse. One consequence of this can be, for some, a boy who cried wolf effect, where genuine risks are dismissed as over-reactions because we bark on about very remote ones all the tiem.

The frequent talk about the amount of resources that were expended also annoys me. People say we can't just do nothing, but that's an obvious lie. We CAN, and we probably should. Just because a person is in danger doesn't mean we are obligated to assist them out of it.

Morally no, I don't think we can just sit back. Obviously we can physically, but morally? Nope.

[Frustration]

Morally no, I don't think we can just sit back. Obviously we can physically, but morally? Nope.

I disagree. Several people have noted that the rest of the deep-sea submarine society hasn't had such accidents. This sub belonged to an organization that touted its lack of safety precautions as being on the cutting edge. The people involved took a major risk with their lives, even beyond the fundamental risk of deep-submergence.

We are not obligated to save people from their own bad choices. If for example people continue to winter hike in areas that have been placed off-limits due to avalanche risk and then are buried in avalanches, I argue we have no moral obligation to attempt to rescue them. If we choose to offer rescue services in certain context, that's one thing - but then we don't get to complain about the expense of doing so. And if we choose not to offer them, people have a choice: they can not take the risk, or they can take the risk at their own expense.