On 2018-01-02, Brian <a...@cityscape.co.uk> wrote: >> >> A question in lieu of a parable. >> Would a resident of a 25th floor flat appreciate a railing on his balcony?# > > Indubitably he would. It doesn't destroy his freedom to throw himself > over it, though. >
All this talk reminds me of the collapse of the wave function in quantum physics. Someone will now advise that tower dwellers in the know place trampolines on the sidewalk beneath the appropriate windows to provide both for railing failure and suicidal tendencies. At which point you will rejoin that the former when falling from lethal heights can always make sure to avoid the latter. You cannot get around the human element no matter how many safeguards (or instruments of measure) you put into place. -- "An autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful. A man who gives a good account of himself is probably lying, since any life when viewed from the inside is simply a series of defeats." — George Orwell
