This is probably not a great surprise to many of you, but I thoroughly enjoy watching MythBusters. In many ways, it is a test engineer’s dream. You start with a premise, in our case the myth, and then you go through different means to try to either prove or disprove that myth. One of my favorite episodes is the one where they blow up a cement truck with a shocking, at least to me, outcome; I heard it’s one of the most popular clips.
The element that I find equally appealing about watching the show is the meticulous way by which they describe each scenario and what kinds of approaches they have to each problem. Some inevitably fail, as you might expect. Every great once in a while, they encounter an unexpected condition for which they did not account. The vast majority of the time, their approaches are meticulously well thought out.
It’s also quite rewarding to see their approaches to safety and what kinds of measures they implement. They discuss the relative power of different explosives. You observe as they alert the local authorities (normally the local fire fighters as they stand in the ready) and the types of precautions that they take. You can even study how the experts handle otherwise dangerous objects like explosives and Japanese swords. It’s all fascinating, though that’s probably because we’re generally in the same wavelength.
Combine that with the fact that I’ve been a software tester for most of my career; I’ve made a living of destroying things. It’s a perverse pleasure.
As a geek, I’ve also played role playing games; I’ve spent countless hours playing D&D (Dungeons and Dragons). I started in high school and had played well into my 40’s. Truthfully, it was more about playing with a particular group of friends, but I can’t deny having a fascination with the game.
I looked at the entire list of weapons which different characters may wield and looked at the pictures and descriptions on each. There was a table that listed them by name along with all kinds of stats for each of them. Some were melee weapons, like swords and daggers. Others were missile weapons, like bows, spears, and crossbows. They were all listed here with different stats, like their degree of lethality, how much they weight, among other stats. In many ways, your weapon may define your character, much like Stormbringer defined Elric or Mjölnir defined Thor.
Weapons can be wondrous items filled with history and character themselves.
I recently shopped for an appliance. We went to a local appliance store and walked around the showroom. We had a very good salesperson. He was always mindful of what would fit our needs first, and then pointed out the merits of different units. He broke it down by features, brand reliability, and even model availability. So after weighing the options and looking at the features, we made our decision. As we’re jotting down all the details, the conversation comes up about the extended warranty.
I’ll let you in on a little secret, though I imagine not such a secret to many of you. If you get an extended warranty, you’re generally losing money. Am I saying that if your appliance breaks down, they won’t pay for it? No, of course not; they absolutely will. Just remember that they’re in the business of making money, not losing it. If you pay $100 for an extended warranty, on average you’d end up spending less than that over the span of the warranty. Casinos may pay out big jackpots, but in a typical day, over all their customers, they collect considerably more than they hand out. Of course, there’s the entire ‘peace of mind’ factor, though that’s generally a farce too. Getting the warranty doesn’t prevent your appliance from breaking down; it just pays for the cost. You’ll still have dirty clothes or spoiling food.
I’ve grown used to the salesperson pitching the extended warranty; I no longer look upon that conversation with distain. However, I also recognize that it’s part of their routine. It’s in his best interest to sell you the extended warranty; it’s money in his pocket. A competent salesperson will never tell you that you don’t need an extended warranty; they’ll pitch you all the reasons why you should consider it. I won’t go as far as saying that they’re lying to you, but let’s just say that if they stand to benefit from it, they’re not going to be impartial.
In that same light, keep this in mind. When it comes to a discussion about limiting the number of firearms and access to firearms, the NRA will always pitch the idea that you should get one. If they had their way, everyone in the country will have multiple firearms and want to get more. This means that if people die from a mass shooting, their response is never going to be “okay, maybe that person shouldn’t have access to a gun.” Their response will consistently be, “You too should have a gun to protect yourself from that lunatic.” For them to suggest anything but ‘more firearms for more people’ translates to ‘less money in our pockets’. Much like the extended warranty people, if they stand to benefit from it, they’re not going to be impartial.
However, consider this grander question… Is it plausible that we have already been collectively manipulated by the NRA (and all the politicians whom they lobby)? Let’s at least entertain this possibility. Allow me to illustrate…
I started this post with the fascination of watching a cement truck blown up to smithereens; explosives are dangerous materials that can be used as weapons. I can marvel about the majestic beauty of a katana ; I have a friend who collects them. We can ponder the engineering marvel of a composite bow and the way that it uses pulleys to amplify the pull of the bow. If I want the handheld version of a bow, I can even look at a crossbow, which is Daryl‘s weapon of choice in The Walking Dead. Or if I imagine a modern weapon, how about the engineering feat of a shoulder launched anti-aircraft missile?
I’m not debating second amendment rights, nor proposing any limitations to that (well, at least not in this post. 😉). The second amendment gives us the right to “bear arms“, which is to say weapons. It doesn’t say “firearms”, it applies to any weapon. The second amendment doesn’t see a distinction between dynamite, swords, nunchaku, crossbows, shoulder-launched missiles, or handguns. Access and operation of any of these is a right protected by the second amendment, right? If that’s the case, why don’t we see more people like:
- Michonne carrying her sword at the local Starbucks
- Daryl strapped with his crossbow while shopping for milk at the market
- Bruce Lee whipping around his nunchaku at the local movie theater
- Ted Nugent strolling through the mall with his composite bow
Seriously, if Starbucks established a policy of “no swords on premises”, do you think there would’ve been such an uproar like there was when they established such a rule for firearms?
It’s a little too… coincidental that we generally don’t mind establishing reasonable rules about public safety and the regulation of weapons… that there isn’t political uproar about our second amendment rights… that we don’t make absurd assertions like “oh, the best way to protect yourself from a sword is to get one of your own.” There are no objections to reasonable restrictions on weapons.
No, none of this occurs until that weapon has a bullet in it. Then the NRA screams about second amendment rights and their political puppets start their choreographed grandstanding in Congress and the news. The common response to a mass shooting is heartlessly morphed from “how do we establish reasonable rules to prevent this?” to “I need to arm myself in order to avoid becoming a victim”.
Do any of them really care about your second amendment rights if that weapon doesn’t have a bullet in it? Do you still not think you’re being manipulated?