Blog#1: Startled to death?

I read the first story of "When You are Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris. This includes pages 1-10. This section starts off talking about germs, then goes on to talk about a fact that was thrown out during a discussion: every 5,000 children are startled to death. I don't think that it is important whether or not this fact is true, it leads to interesting thoughts. Everyone wants to avoid anything that could hurt them in this world, which is why we wash our hands, eat healthy, and don't try dangerous stunts. So if being startled to death was on the list of things that could kill us, would people try to avoid things that would startle them? In the book, David Sedaris raises the example "All right, now, Caitlin Two, when we get home a great many people are going to jump out from behind the furniture and yell 'Happy Birthday!' I'm telling you now because I don't want you to get too worked up about it" (10). While this example is somewhat a joke, I do wonder what the result of such a fear could be. Would people truly try to avoid surprise? Surprise is something so uncontrollable. With the exception of an occasional practical joke meant to create a feeling of surprise, surprise generally just happen, with humans having no say in the matter. What could humans do to avoid surprise? They would need to always be fully prepared for everything. Teacher would not be able to give pop quizzes. Would people go so far as to install motion detectors in rooms so that they would know when somebody entered? What about video cameras? I highly doubt that this will ever become an issue, yet it is still interesting to ponder, especially in light of humans’ track record for trying to keep themselves safe.