The news sites this week have all been agog following the imaginary tale of the Titan, the doomed submersible that went in search of the Titanic. Story after story came out postulating what might have happened, what the situation might be for the people below, how long could they possibly hold out, the various timelines required to stage a rescue and could those within possibly last that long, and of course the practices of the company and its founder in comparison with the various experts on oceanography who weighed in.
I say imaginary tale because so much of the coverage was based on pure speculation, and as it turns out, the reality was much less filled with drama. The crew went down, and along the way, the hull that protected them from the immense pressure simply failed, killing them all nigh instantly. But that hardly makes for a good story, does it? Certainly not one that can span the news cycle for days.
It seems to me that it was cruel to keep offering some slight hope, amid tales of how horrible the conditions might be, to those left behind, such as the widow who’d given up her ticket so that her son might travel with his father for Father’s Day. But the media does not care about cruelty, in fact, other than its own, it relishes in providing us tales of cruelty wherever it can. These harrowing situations strike a chord in our lizard brain, and we can’t help but follow, driven by that instinct we have to seek out tales of danger, that we might avoid it ourselves. But, barring unexpected invasion from a neighbouring country, the dangers most of us are likely to face are far less immediate, or vital. Maybe that’s why we latch on so hard to those of others.
Along those lines, this week, our feature article is a look at the nature of grief and mourning, the expectations we, as Canadians, generally have of it, and how it can apply to so much more than a simple death.
[blue rare] also examines the idea of risk-taking as validation, why people might have this strange urge to tuck themselves into a small tube and sink themselves down to fatal depths. Even being willing to pay large sums of money to be able to do so and, hopefully, return to tell the tale.
We also feature the latest from Elisa Neven-Pugh, where she considers, at the end of Pride month, some of the disparities that she’s found regarding treatment of various ‘ism’s within AU, and how some activities AU undertakes are treated differently from others, as well as what that might mean.
And finally, this week we’re featuring the second part of Alek’s look at organized crime, how it is becoming a national security threat, and how Canada as a whole is currently dealing with the issue.
Also this week, if you’ve ever wondered about Dim Sum, or had a hankering to head out to the barbeque as we hit July, this weeks’ Voice Magazine has articles just for you. Plus we have music reviews, events, scholarships, advice for boosting your brain, and more!