# "there's a greater chance of getting hit by lightning" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598 "2005-06-09T15:21:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/1 "2005-06-09T15:21:29Z")
After reading the article posted in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6243017#post6243017). I was left pondering something that surprisingly has never raised an eyebrow before for me. When doing certain activities that have a minor risk involved, they always tout that “there’s a greater chance of getting hit by lightning” than whatever bad thing they are discussing. Swimming in the ocean and getting bit by a shark in this case. They always use the “there’s a greater chance of getting hit by lightning” argument to encourage people to go about their lives as usual and no worry about the incident reported. But, I have to ask, why is it that we go to such great lengths to alter our lives when lightning is a risk? If getting hit by lightning is the proverbial snowball’s chance in hell, why do we flee golf courses, vacate sporting events, and get innudated with warning to not hide under trees as children? Seems a little contradictory, no? If there were a lightning storm, we’d all be told to avoid the outdoors and tall objects. But they use the same metaphor to encourage people back to the beach after a shark attack. Huh? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/2 "2005-06-09T15:23:34Z")
This is what you get when you expect logic to control human behavior. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/3 "2005-06-09T15:40:54Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > If there were a lightning storm, we’d all be told to avoid the outdoors and tall objects. But they use the same metaphor to encourage people back to the beach after a shark attack. Huh? The tourist season only lasts so long. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/4 "2005-06-09T16:10:57Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > But, I have to ask, why is it that we go to such great lengths to alter our lives when lightning is a risk? Perhaps lightning strikes are rare _because_ we take those precautions. ---
**Author:** ![wisernow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@wisernow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wisernow)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/5 "2005-06-09T16:22:50Z")
I think what is meant is that you have a very low chance of getting hit by lightning in your _lifetime_. That does translate to the same chance during a thunderstorm when the chances go up drastically. ---
**Author:** ![cabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabdude)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/6 "2005-06-09T16:25:37Z")
It’s pretty rare to get struck by lightning when the sky is blue, but the odds shoot RIGHT up when it’s pissing down rain, you’re standing out in the open and you’re holding a metal rod in your hands. ---
**Author:** ![cabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabdude)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/7 "2005-06-09T16:26:45Z")
Oh, right. What he said. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/8 "2005-06-09T16:49:16Z")
> [@cabdude](#): > > It’s pretty rare to get struck by lightning when the sky is blue, but the odds shoot RIGHT up when it’s pissing down rain, you’re standing out in the open and you’re holding a metal rod in your hands. To draw a parallel, it’s pretty rare to get bitten by a shark when you’re relaxing in the water offshore, but the odds shoot RIGHT up when you’re trailing blood (speared fish? menstruating? gaping head wound? you pick), at dawn or dusk, and playing “I’ve got your tail” with a great white. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/9 "2005-06-09T16:53:19Z")
Well, the guy in the record books (whose name I don’t feel like googling for) was hit something like 7 times so far in his life. He was a forrest park ranger or something, but basically, he ignored the general practice of hiding when it was storming outside and has since not learned his lesson. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/10 "2005-06-09T16:55:57Z")
> [@lno](#): > > To draw a parallel, it’s pretty rare to get bitten by a shark when you’re relaxing in the water offshore, but the odds shoot RIGHT up when you’re trailing blood (speared fish? menstruating? gaping head wound? you pick), at dawn or dusk, and playing “I’ve got your tail” with a great white. I’d extend the analogy in what I think is a more appropriate description of what the “stat” measures. It’s pretty rare to get eaten by a shark when you’re hanging on in your backyard, grilling Po’boys. But the odds go right up when you’re thrashing around with a shiny medic-aid bracelet and a recently lanced boil. In other words “blue sky” = “no where near the ocean” ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/11 "2005-06-09T16:58:06Z")
[I guess you’re not the first one to ponder this question…](http://www.stats.org/record.jsp?type=news&ID=402) But I guess the statistic that the lightning quote is answering is “How many people do you know who have been struck by lightning?” and not “How many people do you know who go out in lightning storms and wave golf clubs around?” ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/12 "2005-06-09T17:01:09Z")
> [@Flander](#): > > Well, the guy in the record books (whose name I don’t feel like googling for) was hit something like 7 times so far in his life. He was a forrest park ranger or something, but basically, he ignored the general practice of hiding when it was storming outside and has since not learned his lesson. From the link in your more recent post: > [@](#): > > Roy Sullivan, a retired forest ranger from Virginia, is listed in the Guinness book of records for surviving seven lightning strikes. We’ll never know whether Sullivan was ever struck twice in the same place, since he chose to kill himself in 1983, rather than continue serving as a human lightning rod. I guess he learned his lesson all too well. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/13 "2005-06-09T17:02:21Z")
Sorry, that’d be the link in **Finagle** ’s post. Darn seven-letter f-word posters… ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-greater-chance-of-getting-hit-by-lightning/307598/14 "2005-06-09T18:35:46Z")
Well, that just proves that I totally didn’t read the article linked in the OP. But now I know! [sub]And knowing is half the battle[/sub]