Physics is not interested in your delusions of grandeur

boing
21

My thought is that you would have to certifiably insane to take a bullet for a President - any president.

22

“Wanted” does not.

3 Likes
23

Your comment + your avatar makes me remember the Sesame Street music video “Jump” which devolves toward the end into barnyard animal muppets and kermit just being tossed in the air repeatedly in slow motion. That used to crack me up so hard when I was a kid.

24

In “The World is Not Enough”, Pierce Brosnan climbs a ladder away from an oncoming explosion.

2 Likes
25

I don’t know – I quickly get bored with sad, lazy movie/TV cliches. It’s a fine line, but for me “fun” doesn’t involve being repeatedly insulted.

26

By similar logic, it’s certainly possible to dodge bullets. Just present a moving target - humans suck at hitting a moving target. It’s not the Matrix, but I understand it can save your life anyway.

2 Likes
27

That’s why he’s the hero.

28

My dad told me at a young age - you don’t dodge bullets - you get lucky.

1 Like
29

Your “No!” didn’t sound right. Drop down and give me 20!

1 Like
30

It’s entertaining.

31

Serpentine! Serpentine!

1 Like
32

It’s not just movies either. Dan Brown’s Digital Fortress[1] includes a scene where the protagonist runs away from the giant fireball caused by a computer working too hard on an equation and bursting into flames.

[1] I do not recommend this book to anybody with even the slightest bit of technical knowledge. It is known to cause brain leakage from the ears. The worst part is that he thanks a technical consultant at the beginning of the book, whom I can only assume he listened to just enough to pick up a couple of buzzwords and then promptly ignored.

3 Likes
33

If you have trouble with the physics in the Matrix you may have missed the point.

2 Likes
34

It’s highly unlikely a secret service agent could move fast enough to take the first bullet for their charge unless they saw the gun before it was fired, but I imagine they might be able to take the second or third one.

35

I was joke.

36

I think it is just barely possible to dodge a shot - by which I mean someone who was very perceptive and trained to do it could watch the trigger finger and move immediately before the trigger is fully engaged (i.e. immediately before the firing pin ignites the primer). Once the bullet is out, however, I don’t think that someone could react fast enough.

37

So what was your childhood like?

1 Like
38

Pretty sure that happened on Smallville. Superman doesn’t count though.

39

I can’t tell you. Most of those records are still Top Secret, the rest were destroyed in a fire.

40

People don’t actually jump in front of bullets, they jump in front of people with guns running up to other people. It’s entirely possible and is the concept behind bodyguards and secret-service guys. You can’t see a bullet coming and move out of the way or into the way, but you can see a person with a gun coming and react appropriately to that.

2 Likes