Comments on: Episode 6 – 23rd October 2009

By: Ethics and Formula 1 « doctorvee

Ethics and Formula 1 « doctorvee — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:04:36 +0000

[...] is the opening item of this week’s edition of The Pod Delusion. You can listen to it [...]

By: My name is Duncan, and I am a motorsport fan « doctorvee

My name is Duncan, and I am a motorsport fan « doctorvee — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:11:56 +0000

[...] the accompanying article to my contribution to this week’s edition of The Pod Delusion. Here you can find videos and links if you want to delve further into the [...]

By: Tom Morris

Tom Morris — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:44:29 +0000

I think the comments so far have been about right – to show that running is more dangerous than motor-sport (or Formula 1 in particular) you’d have to do a per-capita or even per-capita-per-active-hour comparison.

That said, if it turned out that Formula 1 was especially dangerous, that wouldn’t make it unethical, in my book. There are plenty of sports which are quite dangerous – mountain climbing, skateboarding, skiing/snowboarding, rodeo, caving, diving with sharks and so on. Also, if you compare F1 to motorcycle racing, it’s no contest. Isle of Man TT has had tons more people dying – 200+ if I recall correctly. But the point is safety does not equal ethics. If you want to be utterly reckless, that’s your prerogative. Maybe if people were being seduced into riding F1 cars without adequate knowledge of the risks they run doing so.

You might be able to make a case that F1 makes reckless driving more attractive – I’m not sure it does. I spent countless hours in my youth watching Schumacher, Mansell, Irvine et al. and it has been said of my driving that it’s more Volvo than Ferrari. But if you could show that F1 caused people to drive recklessly, you’d have a good opening point for an argument against F1 or motorsport.

By: Dr*T

Dr*T — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:12:44 +0000

Hi Duncan (& Duncan2),

Your comparison of the Great North Run with motorsport was extremely poorly thought through – your justification of it above is little better. To compare things so obviously different makes your argument sound a touch hollow.

“But the point I was making is that there are very few activities where the risk of death is zero, and motorsport is perhaps closer to zero than many believe.”

You don’t know if that’s true (neither do I, FWIW) and your analogy tried to show it was true but didn’t, so we still don’t know if it *is* in fact a dangerous sport, apart from your surmising above!

Similar logical fallacy : Iceland has fewer murders than USA, therefore it is a safer country.

Perhaps so, but you made no effort to demonstrate it.

By: James O'Malley

James O'Malley — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:45:44 +0000

Hi Aerik,

You can download the show using a podcast aggregator such as iTunes – and it’ll mean you get all of the latest episodes delivered directly to you.

I’ll work on getting some direct links up, but I’m not sure how ipadio would feel about me promoting links directly to the file – though you can find these links by looking at the RSS feed anyway.

The direct link for this episode, for reference is https://ipadio.s3.amazonaws.com/mp3/3452_20091023000033.mp3

Hope this helps.

By: Aerik

Aerik — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:21:10 +0000

Just got introduced to this show.

Streaming only? Unfair. You can’t call it a pod cast, put ‘pod’ in the name, unless we have an mp3 to download. Not cool.

By: Five things you can do to support the British Grand Prix | Brits on Pole

Five things you can do to support the British Grand Prix | Brits on Pole — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:47:56 +0000

[...] efficiency, run-flat tyres and KERS, or its potential to promote tourism and regional growth. Read this excellent post by Duncan â€˜Doctor Veeâ€™ Stephen for more ideas on presenting F1â€™s achievements [...] (via Duncan's Blog)

By: Duncan Stephen

Duncan Stephen — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:50:43 +0000

Duncan2, You are of course right about the number of competitors. But I brought it up because it is counter-intuitive. Motorsport is supposed to be dangerous, but running is supposed to be safe or even good for you. Which it is. But the point I was making is that there are very few activities where the risk of death is zero, and motorsport is perhaps closer to zero than many believe. (via Duncan's Blog)

By: duncan2

duncan2 — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:13:43 +0000

“more than 2Â½ times as many people have died while competing in the Great North Run than have died in F1″

This year I think there were 54,000 competitors in the Great North Run. How many people compete in F1? Even when you add up all the races and practice sessions, I suspect the figure falls somewhere below that.

(via Duncan’s Blog)

By: Kathryn S

Kathryn S — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:08:47 +0000

Count me in as another liberal F1 fan. Some good points about the comparison between F1 and other sports…and I honestly don’t think working to address global warming means we need to lead a joyless life. When I’ve attended the US Grand Prix we’ve always driven rather than flown…and go as a family so there are four of us in the car…thus reducing our carbon footprint while attending :- ).

(via Duncan’s Blog)