Re: nobody gives a damn about the UFOs .. / I heard one

Evan M. Kirchhoff (kirchh@UMICH.EDU)
Fri, 22 Mar 1996 01:29:48 -0500

On Thu, 21 Mar 1996, RobertWichert wrote:
> This is a perfect example of how guns do not need to lead to violence. JP's
> still here, so's his friends and neighbors. Guns were there, but nobody was
> hurt. To hear the standard logic, everyone should have been killed by stray
> bullets from misfired automatic weapons.
>
> That's not how it happens.

Now THERE'S a model of induction.

(1.) "Not-P occurred once"

(2.) "Therefore, P never occurs"

(Just got hired to teach introductory logic in Winnipeg this summer :)

Now somebody please explain to me precisely what situation could possibly
have required a gun, given a noise on the roof. Is there some kind of
general belief that it's OK to execute people who are on your roof? Is
there some kind of general belief that one needs to at least threaten to
execute people who are on your roof? Is there some kind of general belief
that people on your roof are typically present for the purpose of
executing you and need to be dealt with accordingly?

Americans make some good movies, but they're basically nuts. Every so
often I forget this.

--
Evan Kirchhoff, kirchh@umich.edu