Page 1 of 1 [ 15 posts ] 

lucgn01
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

Joined: 4 Jun 2019
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Posts: 74
Location: Los Angeles, California

04 Aug 2019, 10:37 pm

Do you think that Tyson’s tweet following the two shootings this weekend were insensitive? Personally, I see what he was trying to say (the chances of being involved in a shooting are very small and other issues are still at play), but he really could’ve picked a better way of phrasing it so that it didn’t come off as so robotic and cold. Maybe he could’ve waited a week or something.



Sweetleaf
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Jan 2011
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 34,439
Location: Somewhere in Colorado

05 Aug 2019, 12:05 am

lucgn01 wrote:
Do you think that Tyson’s tweet following the two shootings this weekend were insensitive? Personally, I see what he was trying to say (the chances of being involved in a shooting are very small and other issues are still at play), but he really could’ve picked a better way of phrasing it so that it didn’t come off as so robotic and cold. Maybe he could’ve waited a week or something.


Lately the chance does not seem so small...

That said he was talking facts It is true most people are not killed in mass shootings and peoples emotions can get the better of them. I could see how people may have taken that as downplaying it and insensitive but I mean his credentials don't exactly imply hes an expert in consoling people.

That said even if other causes of death are more common, it does make me worry a bit going out when there are seemingly so many reports of mass shootings...I mean I admit it felt kind of weird when i had to go to wal-mart today I had a hard time not looking around and thinking of possible escape routes should something happen.


_________________
We won't go back.


EzraS
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Sep 2013
Gender: Male
Posts: 27,828
Location: Twin Peaks

05 Aug 2019, 1:18 am

Image



Antrax
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Feb 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,639
Location: west coast

05 Aug 2019, 1:32 am

Neil DeGrasse Tyson is spot on. People are very bad at judging how likely their deaths are going to be. The Ford Pinto was no more unsafe than other vehicles of the day, but because it's failure mode was to blow up people thought of it as an extremely unsafe vehicle:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015 ... ers-lament

@Sweetleaf: I get it. I frequently go to movie theaters and ever since the Aurora shooting I check the exits. As far as I know there hasn't been a mass shooting at a movie theater since, but I still check the exits.


_________________
"Ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge is power."


beneficii
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 10 May 2005
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 7,245

05 Aug 2019, 1:42 am

I agree with Tyson here. It's very rare to die in a mass shooting.


_________________
"You have a responsibility to consider all sides of a problem and a responsibility to make a judgment and a responsibility to care for all involved." --Ian Danskin


naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 69
Gender: Male
Posts: 33,873
Location: temperate zone

05 Aug 2019, 3:31 am

Sooo…..?

Its very rare to die in a terrorist attack too.

The number of Americans who died in highway accidents in 2001 was ten times the number who died in the 9-11 attacks. So...we should just shrug off the 9-11 attacks?



Magna
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Jun 2018
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,932

05 Aug 2019, 6:30 am

naturalplastic wrote:
Sooo…..?

Its very rare to die in a terrorist attack too.

The number of Americans who died in highway accidents in 2001 was ten times the number who died in the 9-11 attacks. So...we should just shrug off the 9-11 attacks?


No, we shouldn't shrug them off. I think his tweet was meant to offer rational perspective rather than pure emotion. For example, thousands of innocents die each year from drunk drivers or at the hands of a drunk person. One could call for outlawing alcohol. No one seems to think that's a rational solution for some reason.



Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 May 2008
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 59,750
Location: Stendec

05 Aug 2019, 8:20 am

I'm with Dr. DeGrasse-Tyson on this, both the statistics and the "Often our emotions respond more to the spectacle than to data" claim. Commercial and charitable interests know this too, which is why simple recitations of a product's features is less effective than images of bikini-clad women, young adults racing recreational vehicles, and images of sad-eyed children and pets at convincing people to part with their money for a casino/resort or some random "Save the Puppies" campaign.

A mere recitation of facts usually does not get a person elected, either. You gotta make an emotional connection with the voters to have any hope of being elected.

HOWEVER, I also think that Dr. DeGrasse-Tyson could have been a little more sensitive to the feelings of the victims' families, but he is a scientist, not a camp counselor.


_________________
 
No love for Hamas, Hezbollah, Iranian Leadership, Islamic Jihad, other Islamic terrorist groups, OR their supporters and sympathizers.


blackomen
Toucan
Toucan

User avatar

Joined: 8 Sep 2009
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 264
Location: Former Californian in Dallas

05 Aug 2019, 8:30 am

Any death that can be prevented is bad. I think he's being logical - there are tons of other preventable deaths happening everyday that don't get as much media attention and some of them are easily bigger fish to fry than simply preventing an occasional mass shooting. Devoting more resources to preventing mass shootings isn't necessarily the best way to minimize deaths in the long run.



lucgn01
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

Joined: 4 Jun 2019
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Posts: 74
Location: Los Angeles, California

05 Aug 2019, 11:25 am

I appreciate all of the responses. I think that a majority of the outrage directed towards him stems from the idea that, while the other issues that he listed are being actively worked on, not much is being done to reduce the rate of gun violence.



Drake
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,577

05 Aug 2019, 11:30 am

The goal of terrorism is to cause terror. He's trying to work against that goal with some perspective.



ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,237
Location: Long Island, New York

05 Aug 2019, 5:03 pm

Drake wrote:
The goal of terrorism is to cause terror. He's trying to work against that goal with some perspective.

^^^^
This


_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


kraftiekortie
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 87,510
Location: Queens, NYC

05 Aug 2019, 5:20 pm

As far as "banning alcohol" is concerned: we tried that----from 1919-1933 (the 18th Amendment to the Constitution).

Where did that get us? It led to the rise of Organized Crime into a subject worthy of many movies.



CockneyRebel
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Jul 2004
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 113,285
Location: Stalag 13

05 Aug 2019, 5:43 pm

How about a save the people campaign. We can start at the womb and work our way up to the autistic and other disabled kids who are being murdered by their alt-right parents and than up to the grandmas and grandpas who are being euthanized because their grandchildren want their money.


_________________
Who wants to adopt a Sweet Pea?


CockneyRebel
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Jul 2004
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 113,285
Location: Stalag 13

05 Aug 2019, 5:46 pm

Another part of the same campaign could be a gun control. I think it's a smashing idea.


_________________
Who wants to adopt a Sweet Pea?