A cynical commentary on thrill rides.

I’m sure by now you’ve all heard the story about the girl at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom who was rushed to the emergency room after a chain on the drop ride she was on snapped and whipped around, slicing off her feet. 

While we react in horror (or laughter) to it now, will malfunctions like this be the thrills of the future? As roller coasters and thrill rides move further and further toward the extremes of human endurance, and modern medicine gets more and more sophisticated, it doesn’t take a whole lot to imagine a day when people with money to spare go on a thrill ride to have a literal near-death experience (a heart attack, a concussion, a lost limb) just for the thrill of it. Then they could be quickly rushed to the incredibly sophisticated hospital of the future with the assurance that they’d be out on the road again in a few hours. 

While these amusements of the future may seem unlikely at first glance, there will always be people willing to put their lives on the line for a little thrill.