Sam Harris - The Riddle of the Gun.

[Carlo_The_Bugsmasher_Driver]

Good article by Mr Harris. And raises a lot of te same points I've been making.

http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-r...f-the-gun/

[earmuffs]

If it raises the same points you're making, then why are you making a thread about it when what it says has already been said?

[Hafnof]

Yep, it misses the question of whether a proliferation of guns is sufficiently good or bad for society to do anything about in much the same way as previous discussions have done. Statistically, it is bad for society to have high levels of gun availability and this is reflected directly in both murder and suicide rates - both of which are statistically tied to gun availability. However, these statistics also miss the broader impact on society of fearing one's neighbour enough to imagine them invading your house to kill you. These statistics miss not the gun obsession but the fear obsession that proliferates through news media and through society as a whole.
Isn't it time to calm the fuck down and start seeing our neighbours as human beings with human hopes and ambitions? Isn't it time to start respecting life? Guns or no guns it's the dehumanisation that comes with this fantasy of home invasion or this fantasy of overthrowing a bad government that is the most concerning aspect of gun culture.

[TheBlackKnight]

(03-01-2013 11:57 PM)Hafnof Wrote:  Yep, it misses the question of whether a proliferation of guns is sufficiently good or bad for society to do anything about in much the same way as previous discussions have done. Statistically, it is bad for society to have high levels of gun availability and this is reflected directly in both murder and suicide rates - both of which are statistically tied to gun availability. However, these statistics also miss the broader impact on society of fearing one's neighbour enough to imagine them invading your house to kill you. These statistics miss not the gun obsession but the fear obsession that proliferates through news media and through society as a whole.
Isn't it time to calm the fuck down and start seeing our neighbours as human beings with human hopes and ambitions? Isn't it time to start respecting life? Guns or no guns it's the dehumanisation that comes with this fantasy of home invasion or this fantasy of overthrowing a bad government that is the most concerning aspect of gun culture.

Look guys, a hippie.

[PoolBoyG]

Sigh. Hitchens had "middle east wars", and Harris has "guns". Focus on the positives I suppose.

[Logica Humano]

(04-01-2013 12:58 AM)poolboyg88 Wrote:  Sigh. Hitchens had "middle east wars", and Harris has "guns". Focus on the positives I suppose.

Hitchens also had some questionable opinions on women.

[PoolBoyG]

(04-01-2013 01:09 AM)Logica Humano Wrote:  

(04-01-2013 12:58 AM)poolboyg88 Wrote:  Sigh. Hitchens had "middle east wars", and Harris has "guns". Focus on the positives I suppose.

Hitchens also had some questionable opinions on women.

I keep hearing that but never saw any evidence for it. Can someone link me some prime examples of it? A video, or something he wrote. Something that had to have been thought out and not spur of the moment.

[Logica Humano]

I do not even understand why the OP was trying to make this point, since absolutely nobody has been arguing to the complete confiscation of firearms.

(04-01-2013 01:13 AM)poolboyg88 Wrote:  

(04-01-2013 01:09 AM)Logica Humano Wrote:  Hitchens also had some questionable opinions on women.

I keep hearing that but never saw any evidence for it. Can someone link me some prime examples of it? A video, or something he wrote. Something that had to have been thought out and not spur of the moment.

Note that I said "questionable" and not "sexist". However, I do believe he was a sexist.

[TheBeardedDude]

(04-01-2013 12:14 AM)TheBlackKnight Wrote:  

(03-01-2013 11:57 PM)Hafnof Wrote:  Yep, it misses the question of whether a proliferation of guns is sufficiently good or bad for society to do anything about in much the same way as previous discussions have done. Statistically, it is bad for society to have high levels of gun availability and this is reflected directly in both murder and suicide rates - both of which are statistically tied to gun availability. However, these statistics also miss the broader impact on society of fearing one's neighbour enough to imagine them invading your house to kill you. These statistics miss not the gun obsession but the fear obsession that proliferates through news media and through society as a whole.
Isn't it time to calm the fuck down and start seeing our neighbours as human beings with human hopes and ambitions? Isn't it time to start respecting life? Guns or no guns it's the dehumanisation that comes with this fantasy of home invasion or this fantasy of overthrowing a bad government that is the most concerning aspect of gun culture.

Look guys, a hippie.

Hey Look! An Ad Hominem that contributes nothing to the discussion and makes absolutely no sense!

[Aseptic Skeptic]

I just finished reading this article. Amazing.

The more I encounter Mr. Harris' work, the more amazing I find him to be. Everything he says and writes is so rational, lucid, and usually brilliant that I am often just stunned at the points he makes and the clarity with which he makes them.

The article was perfect. I wish I could up-rep Mr. Harris. Hell, I wish I could marry Mr. Harris. But he's spoken for and I'm straight so it would probably never work. But a guy can have dreams...