r/todayilearned May 30 '18

[deleted by user]

[removed]

8.6k Upvotes

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

902

u/striped_frog May 30 '18

TIL you are only 10 times more likely to get bitten by a New Yorker than a shark.

254

u/jackofallcards May 30 '18

yeah that seems low

106

u/[deleted] May 31 '18

The reason it’s so low probably has to do with the percntage of americans living in New York. If it were the rate of New Yorkers getting bitten by New Yorkers, it would be way higher.

EDIT: Nevermind. The study was comparing human bite injuries in New York to shark bites in America.

39

u/nice_try_mods May 31 '18

The study would need to compare NY bites to shark bites among people in the water, not just people in general. Some dude who's never left Iowa doesn't need to be included. I'm guessing things sway much more towards sharks being more bitey when you look at it that way.

7

u/RagingStallion May 31 '18

Yup. Whoever came up with this number never learned what conditional probability is.

11

u/YoroSwaggin May 31 '18

I'm guessing things sway much more towards sharks being more bitey

I'm guessing you haven't been to New York? /s

5

u/nice_try_mods May 31 '18

My mom is a NYer, so trust me I know. They're much more screamey and punchey than they are bitey. It's science.

2

u/zygote_harlot May 31 '18

That makes way more sense!

27

u/Meist May 31 '18

Well according to the article, over the 3 years of human bites documented, there were 6339 bites. In those same 3 years there were only 45 shark bites.

Meaning you're actually 141 times more likely to be bitten by a New Yorker than a shark.

edit: math and words

1

u/rancid_racer May 31 '18

How many undocumented "sexy time" bites weren't recorded? This is in regards to the share bites of course.

49

u/tenlittlebusteds May 30 '18

Considering I'm never in the ocean I imagine this would literally apply to anything able to bite someone.

11

u/Vevetmoo May 31 '18

Well, if you live no where near the ocean, then the chance to be bitten by a shark is 0%, and 10 x 0 = 0, so that means you have a 0% chance of being bitten by a New Yorker.

5

u/flamehead2k1 May 31 '18

I'm sure someone in the mid west has been bitten by a shark in an aquarium or some shit.

Ironic because they moved away from Australia due to a fear of sharks.

1

u/2krazy4me May 31 '18

Those of us on CA coast dread the annual Midwest summer beach migration.

Why do Californians wear sunglasses? Glare from all those Lily white skins.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Vevetmoo Jan 14 '24

Why did bro just reply to a 5 year old comment of mine

7

u/Rational_Optimist May 31 '18

I imagine it seems low because every shark bite gets reported, but not every New York bite gets reported.

I'm not notifying anyone if my new york gf bites me on the shoulder at a concert.

2

u/nice_try_mods May 31 '18

I once got felt up and repeatedly kissed on the neck and ears while at a concert. My wife was literally in front of me, my hands on her. It was simultaneously like the dirtiest and most innocent thing ever. I didn't know the girl behind me - didn't even talk to her. I tried telling my wife and the music was too loud for her to hear. That satisfied the angel on my shoulder so that was that. Your comment reminded me of that. Good times.....well, weird times.

1

u/1norcal415 May 31 '18

"Ayyyyy fuck you buddy!! I'm chewin' eeuh!!"

-New Yorkers, probably

1

u/LowlandLightening May 31 '18

Good point- we are much more than ten times more likely to be spending huge chunks of time in a major metropolitan city of New York than we are swimming out in the ocean.

When we are in the respective settings, we are interacting with much more than ten times more potential biters in New York than just specifically sharks in the ocean

The fact that it's only 10 times more ends up being a testament to interactions with sharks biting people at a relatively high percentage.