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Burning Man death rates – A short lesson in statistics

179 points · 243 comments · viraj_shah

  1. zeroonetwothree · · focus · HN ↗
    The biggest factor is selection bias. If you are in the hospital with some terrible medical condition you aren’t going to Burning Man.

    It would be interesting to look at cause of death at Burning Man, I would expect it to differ significantly from the population overall (even accounting for age).

    1. swerner · · focus · HN ↗
      Given that firearms are prohibited and motor vehicle traffic is limited to 5mph, that alone would take out two unnatural causes of death. Also, drowning is a lot less likely to occur in the desert.
      1. bherms · · focus · HN ↗
        This year of the 3 deaths, 1 was just a heart attack in someone around 60 yrs old (a ranger who was working, so not drug related most likely). The other fell from an installation. Some of these are literally just scaffolding with a couch on top or something - I climbed one and was terrified and even said "wow, I will be surprised if someone doesn't fall off this intoxicated at night".

        Some people see that as a feature though - they want the danger and lack of regulation and safety. It's part of why they attend I guess.

        note: it was my first time - i'm not a "burner", just wanted to finally see what all the hype was about

        1. fhn · · focus · HN ↗
          you could just do a lot of reckless things at home with just a ladder. Heck, come to my home, I'll put couches in the trees for your.
          1. bherms · · focus · HN ↗
            i'm only coming if i can wear a fur and spend $5k to get there
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