Not necessarily. Bears only attack humans if they feel threatened or see no alternative. In most cases the bear would prefer to avoid any confrontation with a human. They're mostly peaceful.
Maybe if it were a black bear, they scare off easily. However a brown bear is not so easily intimidated, grizzly bears would tank a bullet, and polar bears are aggressive hunter's, panda's would easily win that fight... I could continue but I think you get my point by now.
Can confirm, bears can definitely adapt to being around humans and be used to their presence. Lived in a tourist town that had a massive amount of black bears and I've literally been close enough to pet one after going around a corner, we startled eachother for sure, sat and stared for a second, and then calmly backed away and went our merry way. I don't think I've ever heard of a bear attack there, and it's literally where the story of cocaine bear came from and is filled with incredibly dumb tourists.
I still think the bear question is completely loaded
I would ALWAYS choose the bear. Everyone I know would ALWAYS choose the bear. If the random man was a person they were close to, most people would STILL choose the bear because bears are rad as hell
My boyfriend isn't terminally online so I often tell him things like this, in an impartial way.
"The internet is mad because some women have been saying they would rather be alone in a forest with a bear than with a strange man."
Him: "Why is this a question? People are always the objectively worse answer."
"Well... some people are pointing out that the type of bear is important-"
Him: "I would rather risk being mauled by a bear than have to deal with a stranger. Why is this controversial? I thought people on the internet hated people?"
I straight up blocked the entire lemmy.world instance over this hypothetical. Too many people actually tried comparing this to discrimination against POC and Jewish folk.
Honestly? No love lost, I just see less shitty memes and bad takes now.
That is a good point you raise there. A bear would not care, as the bear even lacks the notion of what a kitchen is or the notion of belonging implies.