Truth.
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
- Arthur Schopenhauer
Can you think of an example for the quote above? How about one that relates to the fire service or, better yet..fire prevention?
Your thoughts, comments, ideas?
posted by Mrs. Freeman at 9:22 PM
12 Comments:
A great example of this would be requiring helmets for people who ride motorcycles. At first people ridiculed those that did, Hells Angels even went about protesting it during the 70's and 80's, sometimes violently, and finally it is considered the norm. Today you will find people being ridiculed for not wearing them.
5:33 PM
I think that the anti-smoking ad, "truth", shows a great example of a truth that "passes through three stages." When smoking was first opposed, it was ridiculed and people stated that it was not damaging to one's health. Then there was a series of campaigns that have made great efforts to oppose smoking, and even making class-action lawsuits against Phillip Morris, the manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes. Now it is still being opposed, but I believe it is slowly making a move towards being self-evident, even though the information has been around for quite some time now.
2:04 PM
Seatbelts!!!! When automobiles first came about seatbelts were not even thought about. Then they were put into automobiles and pushed for there safety value but opposed by many for various reasons. Finally it has come to click it or tick it:) But many still don't abide by this even in the fire department. This is evident by the death of firefighters every year when involved in TC's while responding to or returning from calls and killed, simply because they didn't buckle up!
5:29 PM
SCBA's. You weren't a true "smoke-eater" if you used an SCBA. Now it is considered stupidity and against fire code if you didn't use an SCBA going into a structure fire. Some firefighters still don't believe in using an SCBA for vehicle fires, and ridicule rookie firefighters for wearing theirs.
5:41 PM
This one is easy. Seatbelts were ridiculed at first. Until more and more people started dying because they would be launched out of the car because nothing restrained them to their seats. In the riverside there was a fire truck driving last year, i believe they were driving to another station or back to the station and somehow lost control and crashed on the side of the freeway. One fireman was killed because he didnt wear his seatbelt. Im not sure if its a requirement now everywhere but it should be SOP in every state.
10:33 PM
An example might be, departments requiring firefighters to clean thier helmets. At first firefighters did not like to clean their helmets because it made them look like a rookie who hasnt seen much action. But since it has been proven that some of the chemicals can break down the helmets firefighters have accepted it and clean their helmets. And now you will never see a dirty helmet.
10:43 PM
seatbelts are definately a great example. Many firefighters do not wear seatbelts. Of the firefighter intersection accidents, 76% of deaths were due to not wearing a seatbelt. Now the engineer should not move the apparatus until all members are wearing there seatbelt.
11:32 PM
I think that a great example is firefighters not cleaning their helmets. When fire departments first started making firefighters clean their helmets they didn't like to because it made them look like rookies. But when they found out that their are chemicals that start to break down the helmet making the helmet almost useless, firefighters started to obey the rule and clean their helmets for their personal safety.
7:27 PM
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident
I think SCBA is a good example. In the past, firefighters went into fires without SCBA. They ridiculed the equipment, saying that they didn't need them. Then, SCBA became a law and they had to wear them. This was opposed. Firefighters did not like changes. Now, it is accepted.
8:20 PM
An example of the quote above, as related to the fire service and fire prevention, is observed when studying the bucket brigades of the 17th and 18th Century. Prior to the creation of "fire-marks" on the side of buildings fire fighters would hurry to the scene of a fire in hopes of laying "first water", thus being paid by insurance companies for responding first and putting out the fire. Many of times bucket brigades would "brawl" because two or more brigades would arrive at the scene at the same time. Thus, insurance companies started marking buildings with "fire-marks" to denote which buildings were to be put out by certain bucket brigades. Sometimes buildings would burn down b/c other brigades, that were not assigned to them, would simply just stand back because they were not to be paid for the service. Thus, when proposals that all fire departments should work together evolved out of this careless practice, fire fighters ridiculed it in hopes of keeping tradition and station pride. Out of this ridicule, violent opposition arose out of fire fighters having this pride & tradition in claiming their "territory", especially if they covered a prime area of realestate. But, ultimately this truth, fire fighters must work together, was proven as self evident in realizing that everyone benifits from working together. Now, here we are in the modern day living in full acceptance of this truth, that all fire fighters must work together.
11:33 PM
One of the examples that come to mind for me is firefighters riding on tailboards. In the early days it was common practice to ride on tailboards with no safety harness. The firefighters ridiculed the idea of riding in jump seats, they liked the easy accesibility. They were opposed to having less personnel on a piece of apparatus. Due to safety issues and firefighter deaths, because of vehicle accidents, this is a common practice. In fact, most fire departments require you to be seated and in a seatbelt before the apparatus moves.
6:59 PM
I think a good example of this would be the traditional wearing of leather helmets by firefighters of the past. It was ridiculed and opposed to by many for the simple fact that leather helmets were traditional and had always been used. This idea ignored the fact that new materials were available that were lighter and stronger as well as more fire resistive. The new helmets eventually became standards in most then all of present day firehouses.
10:49 PM
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