It's a human trait to be fascinated with disaster. That's much of the (secret) appeal of auto races and air shows.

For those ghouls who go to them with a secret hope of seeing a crash (you know who you are...), a friend passed on this sequence of the fatal crash at the Point Mugu Air Show last month.

I agree that we're fascinated by disaster and that's why more than a few people go to auto races. Because I had that same fascination and did not want to indulge it any more, I stopped watching them. However, what I think people want to see is not someone getting killed, but someone getting in a wreck and walking away. Dodging death, not death itself, is the fascination.

Naturally, there are some who really do want to see someone die. A very small minority, thank God.

I agree with Greg Hlatky. Part of the appeal of these shows is the sense of in-control danger. It's fun to watch skilled performers apparently flout the rules and get away with it. This is also why demolition derbies are so enjoyable for spectators -- you get to see maximum thrills with minimum danger to the participants.

The fun disappears if someone gets hurt, though. I've seen two crashes at Oshkosh, one fatal. It's sickening and sobering to watch something like that from relatively close up. I don't think many people enjoy it. OTOH, occasional crashes at airshows are a fact of life, and audiences keep coming back for more, so maybe I am missing something.

Well, as I said, "you know who you are." You two obviously aren't. :-)

You've got it exactly backward.

The issue isn't the hoped-for death, but the experience of someone cheating death, taking risk and walking away.

It's amazing to me how many people who "don't do things like this" feel the way you suggest, and how many people who do don't.

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