that they died on purpose. because most of the peopled doing dangerous things take lots of precautions to avoid death and unfortunately fail or fall short of their goal.

I used to rock climb. People die doing that every year who were a lot more experienced than I was. I never free climbed, but the height and the thrill of MAYBE dying wasn't why i did it, I did it because it was a challenge and I got a great sense of accomplishment when it was done. Not many people could do what I did. I also did it to be outside and in nature and to spend social time with new friends. I did it because it was cool and i got to go to places and have experiences I never would have had otherwise.

At least in my case, it wasn't for the adrenaline rush.

I don't think we should ever douse the human spirit to achieve. We've lost so much of it as it is. It's the risk taking that results in disproportionate rewards. While slightly different than what you're talking about, it's taking risks that have lead to most of the wonderful and "safe" inventions we enjoy today. All things air travel was exceptionally dangerous when they started out. Thank God for the Wright brothers and for folks like Amelia Airheart for pushing limits. Do you like your refrigerator? Freon is exceptionally toxic. Someone had to play with that to keep your root beer cold. Vehicular travel is very dangerous and if the speed wasn't enough, we carry with us flammable liquids that ignite in fiery crashes at high speeds. Hundreds of examples. Uranium and Nuclear reactors. All military service. the velcro in your shoes that was developed because of the risks taken by NASA space programs.on and on.

life does not exist without risk. You can judge what is necessary risk, but we live on the shoulders of hundreds of people who took risks and if that spirit dies, human progress and ingenuity dies with it.