Are you capable of individual thought?
Okay, fine, details: short path. Say, two miles long, some in the water where there are piranhas, some on land with savage cannibals. The long path is two and a half/three miles long, protected from animals and attackers. You have no supplies, but on both roots it's possible to stop and pick up food and water.
Well gosh, that is easy. Piranhas only bite creatures that scare them, and even then there are no recorded deaths caused by piranha. So I'll just swim in slow, deliberate movements so that I glide through the water and not make a ruckus. When I get out of the water I'll strip all of my clothes off, and then smother some cherries from a nearby bush on myself so it looks as though I too, am a savage cannibal. I shall then proceed to run though the land screaming strings of sounds and syllables that don't even make sense, again, to blend in. I'll make it faster on the short path than on the longer path. Upon reaching my destination, this act of extreme survival prowess will undoubtedly impress all of the fertile women at the village I am heading towards. This will allow me to more easily spread my loin, and wage war upon the other kingdoms.
Or I could just reply that since the longer path is only 25-50% longer, it is far easier to take that path than deal with the wildlife/natives.
You still lose.
