Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Do Americans Know the Difference Between Cause and Effect These Days???

Hello,

I don't watch much TV. Reason being I get tired of sorting through all the stupid crap for the few gold nuggets. It seems quite dumbed down.

One of the few shows I tolerate is Modern Marvels. They tend to get things right, more or less.

Was watching the latest one, "Mega Weapons" or something similar.

Before Number 1 on the countdown, there was a commercial break. The announcer said, "Coming up, number one on our list, a weapon that caused one of the most infamous crimes in history" or something very close to that. The word "caused" was used. It's what got my undivided attention.

After skipping through the commercials on the DVR, it turns out the weapon in question was the handgun. They had changed "caused" to "used to commit". That I can accept. The crime was Lincoln's assassination.

They also mentioned in the beginning of the "Number 1" segment that "like it or not, handguns are a large part of American culture," or similar. It seemed pro-gun overall with responsible gun handling and just an overall positive note. (ie, guns are used by criminals, but also by the good guys, etc.)

Anyway, it got me to wondering if folks are really taking the time to notice the differences between causes, tools, and effects, and that only actions, not objects, tend to be causes.

This just irritates me.

Josh

P.S. They also went into an in-depth explanation of rifling, but then talked about how the ball used in Booth's derringer was sub-caliber and therefore bounced around in the barrel, which would allow it to go any which way, and that's why Booth had to be close to Lincoln. They would have been right had they been talking a smoothbore, but they clearly depicted a rifled bore. Ideally there would have been a patch there. Idiots! Arrrrrgh!

I regret not saving a Zane Grey paperback I once had. "Nevada Smith" as depicted on the cover with (I think) an 1851 Navy cap and ball pistol in each hand, cases just a flying to both sides....

Seems publishing/journalism parameters haven't changed much in the last 30 years....

I watched it last night and they sure did vilify the hand gun. The show kept pointing out how many hand guns were used to commit crimes. I was kind of put out with it.

Done on purpose to stimulate in the minds of people the opinion they want. That the gun "caused" is not a misspoken word, it's the desired perception. They want the gun perceived as an evil Talisman, something that will cause an otherwise normal person to do evil deeds. In a word, superstition. Kind of like the number 666 to Christians. It automatically brings the beast to mind and many recoil from it, yet it is just a number.

Leftists can't tell the difference between correlation and causation neither. You can tell that looking at their MMGW nitwittery.

In a word, no.

I agree Modern Marvels is one of the better shows out there but not impervious to bad information..

Yesterday while briefly discussing the latest shooting with a friend,I was asked once again "do we really need to have automatics and machine guns"

If missing the point was a contest...