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I didn't find this article to be very scientific. Although it claims certain rules are arbitrary it doesn't bother to point out what makes them so, which is wh
by samspot 14y ago
I didn't find this article to be very scientific. Although it claims certain rules are arbitrary it doesn't bother to point out what makes them so, which is what I was expecting when I clicked on this.
- dinkumthinkum 14y agoIt's kind of difficult to show why something is arbitrary, usually the lack of any evidence to the contrary is good enough. I mean the example of having a certain amount of liquid but as long as you call it baby formula, it is ok, seems to be so clearly arbitrary that only the most pedantic would demand further proof. :)
- samspot 14y agoThe baby formula is an exception that I'm fairly sure will only work if you have an actual baby with you. Since most terrorists aren't carrying infants it is deemed an acceptable risk. Based on what I know about breastfeeding laws it may actually be illegal to restrict people from carrying these items. So based on what we know I'd say this rule isn't arbitrary at all. To me the better example of an arbitrary rule is laptop thickness. However we can speculate that someone has determined that objects greater than > 1 inch are more likely to carry explosives. We can argue that it's arbitrary, but aside from the TSA coming out and explaining the reasoning we will never know. And I'm not sure they are obligated to tell us.