I was watching this video with the man sitting on the edge. I scrolled down to the comments and when I came back up, he was gone...

"Only one person has died here"- the Asian guy in the background drops down -" make that two "

Tom's palpable anxiety about the guy sitting at the edge throughout the video makes this all the more enjoyable.

I went there a few years ago, and was astonished by how carefree everyone seemed there. There was a 9-10 year old kid who just walked out to the edge and stood there - maybe about 10 cm from the edge? I could help thinking about what would happen if a gust of wind made you take a step forward, or if you stumbled over a fold in the rock on the way to the edge.. it stressed me out a lot. It's unbelievable to me that only one person seems to ever have fallen off by accident.

That guy in the background is freaking me out.

tom casually discusses risk with the beautiful desktop wallpaper behind him

I'd be less afraid of falling and more afraid of someone pushing me off (intentionally or otherwise) In fact, I'm hesitant to stand near high edges whenever there are people close behind me, but if I'm by myself or far away from others, I have no problem with it at all I mean, I _know_ that I'm less likely to be pushed off (as most people aren't complete monsters or that careless) than I am to slip and fall, but if I fall it's my own fault, and if I'm pushed its someone else's fault, and the idea of something bad happening to me as the result of my own actions is far more palatable to me then the idea of someone else doing it

I like to imagine him there with no camera. Just talking intensely to the air.

More than being scared of falling off, I’d be more paranoid about some crazy dude pushing me off while I was on the ledge. Actually think it’s surprising it has never happened before…

0:55 I turned away for a couple seconds and when I turned back, the guy sitting on the ledge disappeared. It was a bit disturbing, lol.

Keep in mind, this rock only holds one "Accidental" death, but several more on purpose (suicide, etc.) It's also debated wether the accidental death was really accidental.

Got there in April, when the whole upper area was covered in ice and snow and there was fog everywhere. The visual experience was way different than on a sunny day, but the feeling of unease when standing over the icebound edge and knowing that there's a 600 meter drop behind that fog was very much there.

They should make a movie called "Unrisky Business" where functionally immortal Tom Cruise lives in a bunker, terrified of the world.

I like this one particularly. It's a simple but beautiful monologue that says a lot about risk and the human condition.

"I've been thinking a lot about risk recently", and by recently I mean the last five seconds I've been siting on this rock.

"Ultimately: which is more human? The desire to experience, or the desire to survive?"

Knowing my luck, the rock would collapse when I went to see it.

That's a very tolkien-esque question. In his books because Elves basically lived forever they never really did anything. They just kind of stagnated and because humans lived "short" lives they accomplished things and moved the world forward. The lord of the rings takes place as the the magic in the world is ending and the age of man and their innovation is beginning.

I love how the guy in the background doing risky stuff while Tom was talking made this video so much better with that timing

What an amazing monologue, Tom is a genius writer and producer

immortality can be greatly improved with a save button

In Germany there would be a fence 2 meters away from the edge. And warning signs everywhere

One of my favourite book series when I was a teen, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott, has a part in it where one immortal accuses another of merely "surviving" rather than living. His reasoning is the same as what Tom talks about: one of them is being very cautious and calculating to ensure that he remains alive, while the other is out taking more risks and having fun with his long life. (The two immortals in question are Billy the Kid and Niccolò Machiavelli. No prizes for guessing which is the reckless one. 😆)

Imagine, you're on this rock, terrified... And someone just *jumps* - with his parachute but you don't notice it.

I'd have named it "Nope Rock"

Yeah, I'm positive you will NEVER run into me there.

A further question: If we could live virtually immortal, would there be as much pressure day to day to actually "live?" The feeling of running out of time pushes us in a lot of different ways, but when there will quite literally "always be tomorrow," to do something, would we do it? Or would we just put it off to some arbitrary point in the future?

This was really great, I think despite all your awesome videos, This one is my favourite so far. Thankyou for quality KZfaq without the scumbag sponsorship plugs etc. Your a legend Tom Scott

My hands are sweaty by just *watching*...

Oh god. Does anyone else get that thought, when looking over a huge drop, that "I could totally throw myself over, right here, right now, and kill myself." I would never act on that impulse, but the impulse is still there, y'know?

I hate sitting on high ledges bc my brain says _J U M P_ or if someone is in front of me it says: _P U S H_

I don't find the risk of falling off and dying scary. It's the idea that my entire existence could end in under 5 seconds if I wanted it to. The power over life and death staring you in the face. For that brief moment you control life and death. Anyone else think about it this way?

sorry, i didn't listen to a word you said for most of this.... that guy....

This is less "Things you might not know" and more "Things you might not think about"

ABSOLUTELY LEGENDARY THAT CLOSING LINE THAT VOICE THAT *STARE* How does someone fit so much perfection in 3 minutes

In case you didn't know, they've filmed Mission Impossible Fallout (in the movie they're supposed to be in the Himalayas) and Vikings at the Pulpit Rock

The asian guy runs back when he hears you talk about it.

The hike to Kjeragbolten, on the opposite side of the fjord, is actually much harder and also very rewarding! The attraction, though, is much more dangerous: it involves standing on a rock (without a flat surface) that's trapped in a crack in the mountain, around one kilometer above the ground!

"Only one person, in living memory, has died here" With a risk that great and almost certain death on the other side, and it being frequently visited, does that number not seem remarkably low? There are plenty other dangerous things, but they're very well regulated, and some incredibly safe things, that people die from, frequently. Is there something intrinsically linked with the evolution of our brains that makes this safer? For example, does the brain look at this and go "yup, that's death" and realise that it can look, but not touch? I'm interested by this... Does the brain have such a high level of risk/reward understanding?

I'd sit in my bunker and wait for someone else to make a 3D scan of the rock. "Longer living through VR"

I'm willing to wager the death rate on Pulpit rock is so low because it's so scary, and the death rate of the drive to it is so high because it isn't scary. If we did an experiment where we gave people fear inhibitors before they went up pulpit rock we'd see a dramatic uptick in deaths. Likewise if we gave people fear enhancers on the drive to pulpit rock we'd see a drop in deaths. Kinda like risk compensation: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation But with perceived risks rather than actual risks.

It is not the fear that you might fall, it is the fear that you might JUMP!

I come back to this video every now and then.... It is actually kind of inspiring! Thank you

0:41 The way that guy slides back after Tom mentions the danger though. Hilarious.

I'm not remotely scared of heights or anything like that, I'd sit on the edge with my legs dangling, and I'd wager my pulse wouldn't raise the faintest bit at all. Give me a parachute or a bungee rope, and I'll think nothing of jumping off. But if you ask me to do a little talk in front of just a small group of people, I can barely speak, I sweat, I shake, I feel I'd rather die than go through with it. Even when I'm an expert in the subject. Why is my brain so seeming unequipped to deal with something trivial like that, while not being phased by things like falling from great heights?

Another thing about risk Imagine cigarettes becoming perfectly safe, except for a defect, 1 in every x, will instantly kill, and there is no way to test. If the maths works out to keep the deaths by cigarette the same, and average life span of smoker the same, PEOPLE WOULD SMOKE LESS, even tough its just as harmful Which is why people care more about nuclear reactor explosions, then deaths by air pollution from fossil fuels, even though the latter is worse overall

Weirdly I get shooting pains in my legs when watching someone get too close to a potentially deadly height. The older I get the worse it is. When we were young going hiking in the Lake District, Scotland and Switzerland,my brother would always get too close to the edge of something and it terrified me.

More relevant today than ever before. Brilliant assessment! (As always!)

I wouldn't live in a bunker but I wouldn't take crazy risks either. My curiosity is great, and in order to sate it I'd have to survive.

That was the most stressful video I've ever seen! ;P

I genuinely couldn't watch beyond 30 seconds! Even hearing Tom say only 1 person has fallen, I got anxious just watching him bum-shuffle towards the edge 😱

Tom: "...but you could be hit by a car or fall off a very high rock" Dude in the background: *aight imma head out*

Last time I was on pulpit rock I hurt myself getting down. Take care. Use proper foot ware.

The timing of that guy laying down by the edge was too perfect for words. ^_^

I climbed up to the top of Pulpit Rock last weekend and it was completely covered in clouds & fog, I saw absolutely nothing. I had to come to this video to see what the view would've been like if I had been luckier with the weather! Thanks Tom.

Your channel has got to be the most interesting on the internet!

This was breathtaking in content. The context you pulled from the moment and expressed can easily be another definition of living. To be curious, and wonder, and question... and to guess and share and discuss... How more human could a being be?

This reminds me of the Micromort unit of risk (1 being 1/million chance etc). Taking ecstacy? 0.5 units. Driving 230 miles? 1 unit. Base jumping? 430 units per jump, damn.

Love the ending. Reminds me of how I feel about reckless, nonsensical acts in comparison to most people. I think it depends on what you call "living". Some people seem to think that making most of life involves getting hammered, dancing to loud music and risking getting injured (and possibly dying - I'm curious what percentage of accidental deaths happen due to drugs...) - quite visceral. Personally, I prefer the more intellectual experience (depending on who you're with) of just chatting with people. I'm also reminded of the song "The Whole of the Moon"

I've been there... if anything would've killed me, it wasn't the drop, it was the several hours long uphill climb x_x

No can't watch this video while that guy is sitting there.

"In the end, it's not about the years in your life, but the life in your years" -Abraham Lincoln

This is my favorite Tom Scott video

The middle ground is what videos like this are all about. I can experience the risk vicariously without actually putting myself in any danger. KZfaq is the middle ground.

if you survive literally everything but still feel pain imagine how boring and cold the heat death of the universe would be

Haha Tom at the end - that's exactly how I feel when I go to the cliffs :p !

Tom's reactions amplified my own watching the video, I'm such a light weight - sweaty palms !

Watching that scared me so much that I didn't get a word of your story. Even knowing that you didn't die, because this was 4 years ago and I just watched you in another video from today.

Many years ago, back in my 20s, I climbed Half Dome and sat on the edge of the 'Diving Board,' a ledge similar to what the Asian dude is on. I even managed to cautiously peer over the edge and look straight down. (OMG!) By the time I reached 40, I don't think I would have done that. (Lower testosterone levels can definitely have a positive influence on one's longevity!) But now, at 52, I think I'd be game once more! With only 2~3 decades left, I find myself forcing a bit of risk here and there. And most times, I don't really have to push myself. I just do it. I can't say I'm entirely keen on mortality, but some small part of my brain seems to have accepted it to a degree.

So we can start calling you "Scarface Scott" now? (grinning, ducking, running...)

What an amazing take on the setting. I'll never think the same about immortality

honestly, jumping off that cliff with a parachute onto a waiting ship would be an epic scene in any movie

The underlying principle of this comes under the study of psychopathy and the average person will assess a risk and if it is necessary they are more likely to do it. More people die per year crossing roads to go to the shop than die falling from a cliff. Yet people are more likely to walk across a road than stand on the edge of a cliff despite the higher risk involved.

*starts video* "Pulpit Rock? Hmmm, looks a lot like the Prekestolen!" "Those are the same thing!" I learned something within the first 16 seconds of your video.

This video gave me anxiety to such a degree, that I couldn't even watch a whole minute of it.

I've watched a lot of your videos, but that guy in the background crawling to the edge of that drop like an inverse crab made my palms so sweaty, I had to stop!

i completely agree with your conclusion at the end. take enough risk to live, but not enough to die.

Kinda disappointed you didn't try to pronounce the Norwegian name :p

Very interesting idea and conversation there, good shout.

It's an amazing place. There's a small crevice on the path to getting there that opens down under your feet and you can see the water at the bottom. Shame it started pouring a few minutes after we got there, would've loved to stay more.

I was like Nopenopenopenope.

"I've been thinking a lot about risk recently." - What does a scar on your face and a 600m drop have to do with a conquest strategy board game? :P P.s. as someone with crazy acrophobia (vertigo does not mean fear of heights!) I would nope right outta that place on the first train to Nopeville. Seriously, even if I'm on a pedestrian footbridge I have to carefully walk as far away from either edge as possible, and get all squeamish when people pass me.

Well, this video just proved how risk-averse I am... just WATCHING that guy in the background was giving me SERIOUS ANXIETY!

Probably tom's best video!

I'm sorry Tom, this is perhaps the only video of yours that I cannot physically watch til' the end. That guy behind you, and all the shots over the edge... I can't. It makes me sick.

I'll just leave this here: "I don't want to survive, I want to live!" P.S. I kept expecting that guy in the background to fall off. Especially when he does his "I'm King of the World!" pose.

i'm getting that tingling in my feet just watching this video. in fact, the video is over now and i'm still feeling it from thinking about that cliff.

i loved it there, and the pov pictures from sitting on the edge where awesome and 100% worth it.

Did you hear about the pilot who went to a psychic? The psychic told her that she would die in a plane crash on a particular date. So on that day she called in sick to work and stayed home. About two ours into the flight she would have been flying a plane from another airline crashed into her house and she was killed. The plane she would have been flying landed safely.

I for one would not be dangling my feet

You can usually get 95% of the experience with about 5% of the risk... Tom and the other guy on the edge demonstrates this beautifully.

If we knew the place and time of our death would it affect the way we live up to the moment? Absolutely. Whether it ends up being a positive or negative experience is probably dependent on how that makes you feel. If you're going to die young, perhaps you'd live fast, but if you knew you were going to pass 70 you might be more inclined to take your time and plan it out. If I had known I was going to reach 41, I would have done a lot of things differently. I never expected to pass 21. I don't know why but I always felt like my life was going to be short. And at the age of 24 I made a decent attempt at suicide but something held me from going all the way. Now these days I often wonder if I was supposed to have died then. Some things just don't fall right with my life and I believe, perhaps I am not meant to be here. Weird feeling I can tell you...any day now I hope.

You just made me realise why the Elves in The Lord of the Rings are so useless

People would crave this experience, especially after having lived for a very long time and gotten tired of the boredom caused by the endless cycle of repeating mondane everyday experiences.

A great poet wrote: "The awful daring of a moment's surrender which an age of prudence can never retract by this, and only this, have we existed" from The Waste Land by T.S.Eliot.

I'm scared of heights and I starting literally choking 47 seconds into this video.

I've been there! Sat on the edge and even laid on my back with my head over the abyss 😂 my mother hated me for it

THIS GIVES ME SUCH ANXIETY TO WATCH AAAAA

This video becomes a lot less unsettling when you remember that Tom went to a 90s-themed concert not long after. Just play Lou Bega's Mambo No. 5 over the top of this and see if it has the same tone.

I'd love to visit that location just because the view is fantastic, but at the same time, I'm not sure I could deal with being close to the edge. Even just watching this video made me incredibly anxious. Still, despite my debilitating fear of precipitous high places, I'm inexplicably drawn to them anyway.