Map of life expectancy at birth from Global Education Project.

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Unencumbered by the thought process

Politics is in some respect a debating society. Of course money and other sources of power and privilege affect what voices get amplified, and tribal loyalties can trump facts and logic in how they are heard. Still, those of us who are rational empiricists can make an effort to judge the quality of arguments. Rep. Diane Black of Tennessee says that pornography is the cause of school shootings.

There is no evidence that I know of, and certainly none adduced by Rep Black, that any school shooter in history has even been exposed to pornography, let alone that it has anything to do with their actions. Of course they likely have, depending on your definition. When I was an adolescent my classmates got their hands on Playboy Magazine and so on. Nowadays, anybody with a telephone can see any kind of porn they want, so sure, these kids might have checked it out. Funny thing though, there's porno in Canada, Sweden, the UK, France -- oh, actually, just about everywhere that there have not so far been 23 school shootings this year, or in fact any at all. Also, the shooters aren't acting out soulless sexual fantasies, they're, you know, shooting people, which is not generally a feature in pornography.

School shootings, and mass shootings in general, are a small proportion of all gun violence. The linked piece in the Puffington Host says that "poor social, economic and cultural conditions are primary drivers of gun violence." That statement is too vague to be fact checked, but at least it isn't ridiculous. We really need to have honest discussion of our problems. Black is spouting nonsense based on her presumption that her voters don't like porno, so they'll be open to hearing it blamed for something else they don't like. (I won't bother to tell her that statistics show there is more on-line viewing of pornography in socially conservative parts of the country.) That isn't how logic works.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...


Black also said school shootings are on the rise because of the “deterioration of the family,” mental illness and violent movies.

That doesn't sound so ridiculous.

Cervantes said...

Well, it doesn't sound as ridiculous offhand but isn't based on any evidence either. There is no evidence that the prevalence of mental illness is increasing. In any event, the vast majority of mentally ill people are not violent, on the one hand; while on the other hand it is not clear that most school shooters have a diagnosable mental disorder. Furthermore, as far as I know, all of the famous ones come from intact families. Finally, there's nothing in the least bit new about violent movies.

So all of those assertions are also unencumbered by the thought process.

Anonymous said...


Well, it doesn't sound as ridiculous offhand but isn't based on any evidence either

Yeah, well, none of what was quoted as 'experts' was based on any evidence, either.

As a rational empiricist, I'm sure that came to your attention.

Anonymous said...


If you really want to know why someone does what they do, try being still and listen to them.

https://tinyurl.com/y9wlyymd

“When you see me on the news you’ll all know who I am,”...

“Today is the day. The day that it all begins. The day of my massacre shall begin,” Cruz says. “All the kids in school will run in fear and hide. From the wrath of my power they will know who I am.”


Don Quixote said...

It's best you remain anonymous, if this is typical for your comments.

Anonymous said...


"It's best you remain anonymous...

Yes, I probably should post under a real name such as "Don Quixote" or "Cervantes".