4 ms·

> 4 people killed in a week is not a lot compared with the background level of deaths in the US It's not every day that people have their legs blown off while

by tkahn6 13y ago

> 4 people killed in a week is not a lot compared with the background level of deaths in the US It's not every day that people have their legs blown off while enjoying a public social event. There's an expectation of danger while driving a car. There is no expectation of danger while spectating at the Boston Marathon. It's not complicated.

marknutter 13y ago
> There is no expectation of danger while spectating at the Boston Marathon. There also is no expectation of getting struck by lightning while spectating at the Boston Marathon, yet that is much more likely to happen than getting hit by a terrorist's bomb.
- tkahn6 13y ago
  That is a true statement, but what is your point?
  - marknutter 13y ago
    The OP said "It's not every day that people have their legs blown off while enjoying a public social event." It's an obvious appeal to emotion that doesn't refute the point that terrorist attacks are so infrequent that the average person ought to worry more about, say, slipping and falling in their bath tubs than getting killed by a terrorist.
    - tkahn6 13y ago
      I still don't see how that speaks to my point, which has to do with an expectation of danger in different contexts. So I suppose this would be a red herring on your part, if we're accusing each other of logical fallacies.
- kevincennis 13y ago
  There might be some level of expectation of getting hit by lightning during a lightning storm at the Boston Marathon.
  - homosaur 13y ago
    Perhaps then we can say there should be some expectation of terrorism as long as the US continues to elect leaders that pursue this sort of foreign policy in the Middle East.
- potatolicious 13y ago
  Yes, which is why we don't hold large public events in the middle of a thunderstorm. And when a thunderstorm rolls into major public events, we do evacuate them. Unless you're trying to say that the odds of being struct by lightning while spectating the Boston Marathon, on a clear sunny day, is high.
  - marknutter 13y ago
    The odds are higher that a storm will unexpectedly roll in and strike you with lightning than you getting blown up by a terrorist, yes.
- sk5t 13y ago
  It doesn't matter. People can go indoors if thunderclouds form. Terrorist attacks freak people out because such attacks make people feel powerless to control the risk.
- ra 13y ago
  > There also is no expectation of getting struck by lightning while spectating at the Boston Marathon, yet that is much more likely to happen than getting hit by a terrorist's bomb. Not sure where you're getting your data from.
zanny 13y ago
> There is no expectation of danger while spectating at the Boston Marathon. You are in the presence of many other human beings. You are always in a present state of danger around everyone, ever. It is naive to think you can predict the actions of others. I'm not saying be paranoid, I'm saying treat people like people and not faces in a crowd. You don't know their intentions with rare exception to those you actually know.

by tkahn6 13y ago

marknutter 13y ago

> There is no expectation of danger while spectating at the Boston Marathon. There also is no expectation of getting struck by lightning while spectating at the Boston Marathon, yet that is much more likely to happen than getting hit by a terrorist's bomb.

tkahn6 13y ago
That is a true statement, but what is your point?
- marknutter 13y ago
  The OP said "It's not every day that people have their legs blown off while enjoying a public social event." It's an obvious appeal to emotion that doesn't refute the point that terrorist attacks are so infrequent that the average person ought to worry more about, say, slipping and falling in their bath tubs than getting killed by a terrorist.
  - tkahn6 13y ago
    I still don't see how that speaks to my point, which has to do with an expectation of danger in different contexts. So I suppose this would be a red herring on your part, if we're accusing each other of logical fallacies.
kevincennis 13y ago
There might be some level of expectation of getting hit by lightning during a lightning storm at the Boston Marathon.
- homosaur 13y ago
  Perhaps then we can say there should be some expectation of terrorism as long as the US continues to elect leaders that pursue this sort of foreign policy in the Middle East.
potatolicious 13y ago
Yes, which is why we don't hold large public events in the middle of a thunderstorm. And when a thunderstorm rolls into major public events, we do evacuate them. Unless you're trying to say that the odds of being struct by lightning while spectating the Boston Marathon, on a clear sunny day, is high.
- marknutter 13y ago
  The odds are higher that a storm will unexpectedly roll in and strike you with lightning than you getting blown up by a terrorist, yes.
sk5t 13y ago
It doesn't matter. People can go indoors if thunderclouds form. Terrorist attacks freak people out because such attacks make people feel powerless to control the risk.
ra 13y ago
> There also is no expectation of getting struck by lightning while spectating at the Boston Marathon, yet that is much more likely to happen than getting hit by a terrorist's bomb. Not sure where you're getting your data from.

zanny 13y ago

> There is no expectation of danger while spectating at the Boston Marathon. You are in the presence of many other human beings. You are always in a present state of danger around everyone, ever. It is naive to think you can predict the actions of others. I'm not saying be paranoid, I'm saying treat people like people and not faces in a crowd. You don't know their intentions with rare exception to those you actually know.