[totetsu]

What is it about this type of story that is so attention grabbing? Kids trapped in cave, Plane missing in jungle, etc etc. Is there a name for this?

Pragmatically speaking, this is of little consequence to most people, there are greater human tragedies going on, there are more catastrophic engineering failures happening, more egregious negligence,.. something about the unknown element of it.

[bruceb]

They are outliers.

Most tragedies the people are dead, outcome is known.

These situations usually have these things in common:

1. Very unusual situation

2. Race against the clock

3. Remote location

4. Extreme measures needed for rescue that may have never been done

5. May still die even if found

[cracrecry]

>What is it about this type of story that is so attention grabbing?

In this particular story: Those guys are pioneers, they are doing something almost nobody has done before, like going deep down 4 kilometres under the surface of the ocean.

This takes guts. And people admire those that have the guts. It is primal instinct, as the people that take risks and survive usually makes the tribe or society improve.

Things that are routine today like planes flying without crashing down or reusable rockets or going to the moon were at some time extremely risky.

[evgen]

> Those guys are pioneers, they are doing something almost nobody has done before, like going deep down 4 kilometres under the surface of the ocean.

They are rich tourists going down to look at a famous shipwreck, the same as hundreds of actual professionals have done. Much like the rich tourists who are mostly carried up Everest this does not take guts or ability, it takes a fat wallet and nothing more. Actually, it probably takes more ego than intelligence if you get into the craft they took down now that we have learned more about its potential safety flaws.

The nature of the event is why we are paying attention. The people trapped and how it happened is icing on the cake, but we would all still be watching if it was the Alvin submersible and some university researchers inside. To be honest we would probably care more if it was actual professionals who were at risk doing work to expand human knowledge instead of a tourist day-trip; I certainly would actually care about the outcome in that case, while I can't be bothered to care one way or the other if this particular group of tourists lives or dies.

[medvezhenok]

*Some of them are rich tourists. Paul-Henri Nargeolet is one of the people on board, has done more than 30 dives to the site since the 1980s, technically owns the rights to the ship, was in the French Navy for 20+ years, and has recovered artifacts from the site - only person to do so.

Not quite fair to call him a tourist.

[Ekaros]

Taxi driver in that case? Someone paid to take rich people around...

[medvezhenok]

He also has a net worth of 1.5 billion dollars.

You can be both rich and the foremost world expert on the Titanic at the same time.

[gr8flyer1011]

I would think he would be sending Morse code, being a Navy man.

[GvSAQS5G2NKJ]

I was wondering about that. This banging the rescue teams have been picking up, can sonar or whatever they're using pick it up clearly enough to decode a message? Would they even know what to send?

[eternityforest]

I think it's the possibility they are still alive and trapped, and might die like there after multiple days of multiple kinds of suffering.

Plus, being unable to call for help is not something we are used to. To me, just BEING somewhere where I could not contact anyone and nobody could get to me in an emergency sounds terrifying even if nothing was actively happening.

Plus, to laymen it seems like the tech to prevent it should be absolutely trivial in the age of satellites. If I was lost somewhere all because I didn't have a $200 beacon device I would be horrified, and these people paid $250k. I'd expect multiple redundant forms of communication, immediately surfacing with a refund if there was any sign of trouble, etc.

[red_trumpet]

Isn't that like basic story telling? Someone goes on an adventure, then a catastrophe happens and now we are at the most thrilling part: will they make it out alive? And this is a real story, playing out in real time.

[Hamuko]

I think a lot of it is schadenfreude. A bunch of rich people pay out their ass to get in a jerryrigged submarine to look at a sunken boat and end up becoming one.

[GvSAQS5G2NKJ]

Interpretation is a form of introspection.

For me, it's a lot of things. A metaphor for the mating habits of spiders. A reminder to be thankful for what I have. Just something grisly to contemplate.

[gr8flyer1011]

You pretty much nailed it!

[silisili]

In this case, it's because everyone on board was filthy rich.

If it were me or you, we'd be sleeping with the fishes without mention.

[4gotunameagain]

The parent comment already made the connection to the thai kids cave, whose story went around the world. So this part does not play a role about the sensationalism of the story. About the magnitude of the search and rescue effort.. It might do

[silisili]

well sure, that was kids. We only remember that kids were trapped, barely if at all the adults involved.

If that cave was just full of random divers, we'd probably not heard of that one either.

[evgen]

And the Chilean miners trapped for a couple of months back in 2010? The fact that all I need to do to remind you of the event is mention 'Chilean miners' should be sufficient evidence to prove an exception to your proposed rule.

[silisili]

I'll half concede, fair point.

It was a lot of people (more than 30), and IMO wasn't covered as heavily as say, the Thai cave or this may be.

There is definitely a disaster angle news latch onto, but it's pretty rare for a group of adults this small. There are small plane crashes with more fatalities multiple times a year...

And it can't be the 'missing people' angle, there are like 400k kids every year reported missing with less than milk carton coverage...

[numpad0]

The urgency tickles our savior complex. The situation makes us feel that we might be able to save those souls if only we could figure out the correct bash one-liner to solve it, and that grabs our collective attention.

[ycombobreaker]

I agree with your points. But just imagine the news cycle if the Chilean miners _were_ children!

[numpad0]

None of Chillean miners were filthy rich.

[Rapzid]

Everyone loves a good search and rescue. Is there a better search and rescue right now?

[2-718-281-828]

it's relatable. most people have a vivid fear of being trapped somewhere. then empathy kicks in. it's not abstract.

[moltar]

Overt misdirection?

Brown noise?