Feb 112019
 

One might argue that some of the hijinks shown here are… unwise.

On the one hand, you’ve got people using fireworks in a way that the manufacturer probably does not recommend. You see people holding on to explosive devices *way* too long after lighting the fuse. You see people  not understanding that these things, once out of control, have somewhat randomized trajectories.

That said: fireworks are a manifestation of what seems to be an impulse that’s hard-wired into humans, the desire to see things destroyed. That’s all fireworks are, devices that destroy themselves with a loud sound and sometimes with an impressive visual display. They are supposed to be used all by themselves. All too often people use fireworks to destroy property or to harm animals… and sometimes to harm themselves. But blowing up the ice covering a lake? Here you get all the visceral joy of watching stuff get destroyed, without the actual cost of anything *actually* getting destroyed. Ice on lakes and ponds is a transient phenomenon, of little to no intrinsic value. So compared to blowing up cars and sheds and houses and such, this is a fairly benign outlet for the urge to watch the world burn.

Plus, it’s cool. Mheh.

 

 Posted by at 12:17 pm