# Afraid of heights? I dare you to watch this video. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 26, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995 "2016-08-26T05:32:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![allyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@allyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allyn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/41 "2016-08-27T07:24:58Z")
This has been making the viral rounds…makes me cringe! [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0USG79LlSg) ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/42 "2016-08-27T07:37:38Z")
Couple of Youtubes. This first is the most recent. [Crazy man rides hoverboard on edge of Dubai Skyscraper](https://youtu.be/MKrHDwXeBOU) and an oldie but goodie… [El Camino del Rey](https://youtu.be/ZmDhRvvs5Xw) Enjoy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/43 "2016-08-27T07:51:32Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I thought you’d say something like “if we put attachments for safety lines on the tower it would interfere with the signals being broadcast.” Is there really no good reason? I’d hate the engineers too if they hadn’t put some thought into getting me up there safely. It’s usually more that the engineers don’t really think about serviceability aspects. Their primary concerns are that it works and that the initial assembly can be done–and sometimes, they don’t actually know how the piece they’re working on is going to be combined with other pieces. A lot of places compartmentalize their engineering. As a result, you may get things that technically fit together, based on the specs, but give you places like the overhangs that guy had to climb over. Beancounters come in for a share of the blame as well, especially on mass-produced items. Adding elements to the design to enhance safety and serviceability costs money, but does not directly earn money. It’s probably not a big factor in this particular case, though. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/44 "2016-08-27T09:26:36Z")
I like the surprise at the end. It is one thing to be standing on a postage stamp BFThousand feet in the air, but to have to _share_ it? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/45 "2016-08-27T14:17:35Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Come to the CN Tower in Toronto! You can stand on an [actual glass floor](http://www.cntower.ca/en-ca/plan-your-visit/attractions/glass-floor.html) 1,122 ft above the ground – and it’s [not an illusion](http://growabrain.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/03/18/walk_on_air.jpg)! Dude, this is how I got my fear of heights in the first place. When I was in 4th grade we took a class trip and I was leery of going out on the glass floor of the CN tower. One of my classmates helpfully gave me a shove. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/46 "2016-08-27T17:57:48Z")
Sorta related and worth watching: [Worst falls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfBG1jepkzU) mmm ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/47 "2016-08-27T18:04:22Z")
I don’t understand how people do that. At what point do you become conditioned or comfortable with those heights? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/48 "2016-08-27T18:23:07Z")
Am I the only one here who wasn’t particularly affected by that? The only part of it that seemed scary to me was when they said a thunderstorm was coming, because there’s no way to get down quickly (well, OK, one way to get down quickly). And I’m surprised that they never called it a “third of a mile”, since that’s exactly what 1,760 feet is. EDIT: **octopus** , I suspect that you mostly don’t become conditioned to it. You don’t go into that line of work in the first place unless you’re already completely without a fear of heights. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/49 "2016-08-27T19:21:58Z")
Holy shit. That actually made me shudder. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/50 "2016-08-27T19:29:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Am I the only one here who wasn’t particularly affected by that? The only part of it that seemed scary to me was when they said a thunderstorm was coming, because there’s no way to get down quickly (well, OK, one way to get down quickly). I wasn’t particularly affected by it, as you might gather from my earlier posts in the thread. I’ve climbed towers. None were nearly as tall as this one, but they had the charm of being only a foot wide all the way up, plus swaying so much that I could look up and watch the clouds apparently circling above me. As you say, the scariest part was the potential for a storm. Mostly, I was annoyed by poor safety design and practices. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/51 "2016-08-27T19:54:20Z")
[quote=“allyn, post:41, topic:763995”] This has been making the viral rounds…makes me cringe! [/QUOTE] That person must be wearing some sort of safety harness, right? Some of jumps don’t seem possible otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![allyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@allyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allyn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/52 "2016-08-27T20:05:32Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > That person must be wearing some sort of safety harness, right? Some of jumps don’t seem possible otherwise. I don’t know. If there’s a safety harness it’s not obvious…perhaps there’s a partner off screen with a safety line? As with a lot of these viral clips, it’s difficult to get the background story behind it… ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/53 "2016-08-27T20:54:05Z")
I usually sit by the window in an airplane, and the view downward does not bother me, even when the plane banks into a hard turn. At half a kilometer, I kind of think those guys have lost their direct association with the ground: it is just a thing down there a ways. They (unlike the stunters in those other videos) are just doing their job (though I think I would be checking the weather _before_ ascending). What would bother me more than the height would be the wind. Oh, and the descent. Going back down must be a lot harder than the climbing. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/54 "2016-08-27T23:18:06Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > At half a kilometer, I kind of think those guys have lost their direct association with the ground: it is just a thing down there a ways. They (unlike the stunters in those other videos) are just doing their job besides them having a higher fear tolerance in general, this must be part of it. Like window-washers on a skyscraper – just washing this window like any other. http://robinson-solutions.blogspot.ca/2015/11/photographers-window-washers-love-story.html (Love the guys dressed as superheroes outside the children’s hospital windows 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/55 "2016-08-28T01:19:44Z")
[quote=“thirdname, post:6, topic:763995”] You guys are lightweights. If you want a scare, check out what the cool kids are doing in Russia these days: [/QUOTE] > [@Savannah](#): > > I was physically ill watching that, legit felt like vomiting. > > Same with this young lady’s exploits: > > [A N G E L A N I K O L A U (@angela\_nikolau) • Instagram photos and videos](https://www.instagram.com/angela_nikolau/?hl=en) > > I am staying right here on the ground, thankyouverymuch. H.F.S. :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: No. Just… no. Let me go lie down somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/56 "2016-08-28T03:25:31Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I usually sit by the window in an airplane, and the view downward does not bother me, even when the plane banks into a hard turn. Perhaps it’s odd, given that heights in general don’t bother me, but I’m afraid of flying. Videos of other people flying don’t bother me, however. (The time the screen on the seat back in front of me was stuck on the belly cam of the plane sucked, though.) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995/57 "2016-08-28T03:37:10Z")
**standingwave** ’s El Camino del Rey link (post #42) unnerved me more than the OP link; every inch of that nightmare looked like it would come down if you so much as sneezed. And that safety line? :eek: :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afraid-of-heights-i-dare-you-to-watch-this-video/763995.md?page=2)