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The problem with this, is that ESR may have cowed the guy into submission, but i now think that ESR is an asshole, and that he's not right. I remain entirely u
by knowtheory 17y ago
The problem with this, is that ESR may have cowed the guy into submission, but i now think that ESR is an asshole, and that he's not right.
I remain entirely unconvinced as to the correctness of his position. In fact, i am unclear what the full scope and description of his argument is, because he spends so much time trying to convince us that people who disagree with him are not rational.
Way to fail at argument.
In some cases it may be fine/appropriate to needle your interlocutors with non-logical appeals, but doing so does not win your argument. It shuts down the argument.
ESRs interaction there is particularly frustrating, since his actual argument contains no content. Going to a gun club is not a rebuttal to an argument, it's an attempt to indoctrinate others through means other than logic.
Firing a gun, and learning about gun safety isn't going to change my mind that an populace armed with firearms is a solution for... anything really. Besides, if we really wanted to start an armed resistance, or a guerrilla movement, we don't need guns. Al Qaeda didn't cause 9/11 with handguns, and Timothy McVey didn't blow up the Oklahoma City building with bullets.
- ellyagg 17y ago> Firing a gun, and learning about gun safety isn't going to change my mind that an populace armed with firearms is a solution for... anything really. You mean aside from the scads of strong evidence such as the frequent mass shootings by terrorists in Israel until citizens were allowed to carry concealed weapons?
- knowtheory 17y agoI don't seem to recall the end to the intifada. :P Arming everyone doesn't solve problems. It just guarantees someone is going to die. You can say "better them than me", but again, that's not a solution. Carrying a gun may make you feel safer, but that's all it does. Some people tried to make the claim that the Virginia Tech massacre could have been avoided if students were armed on campus. Except that the shooter, who clearly did not value his own survival, caught everyone off guard. Unless you are always armed, and always vigilant someone is going to get the drop on you. Fire arms are not going to make you safer. There are always random acts of violence. Also, don't forget that the "good guys" with guns aren't infallible. They accidentally shoot bystanders or even other good guys by accident too (see the NY plainclothes policeman who was killed last week).
- knowtheory 17y agoHmm, looks like the intifada did technically peter out[1], but that hasn't stopped palestinian violent resistance. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Intifada#End_of_the_Intifada http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Intifada#End_of_the_Inti...