A shining example

If you haven’t read the entire thread I captured from the comments of Joan Peterson (a Brady Campaign board member) post in my post here please read at least the last update. It is a shining example of their mindset and inability to grasp simple concepts essential to the understanding of the problem they claim to be desirous of fixing. Anyone capable of counting to 100 should have been able to grasp the example given yet she was oblivious.

I am nearly at a loss for words. I cannot get my mind around what I read.

It simply cannot be real. Can it? Who would believe it if I were to tell a story of the existence of such a person?

I have another question now, “Why have we been in a struggle with people like this for over 35 years?”

Or perhaps, “How is she able to function in the real world? Shouldn’t she be institutionalized?”

Perhaps Heinlein’s observation is the most applicable:

Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house.

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13 thoughts on “A shining example

  1. I think she’s being intentionally coy. She has far too much anti-gun credentials to admit there is an elephant in the room. Also she’s feigned an open mind and was called on it (again I have no idea why she opened her comments, they were more-or-less blocked when you first showed me the site) so this 20 questions is a pretty obvious ruse to appear like she wants a discussion, while likely being amused at all the typing the gun-nuts are doing on her behalf.

    She’s already expressed exasperation at the volume of answers (a good out to not follow up, or keep kicking the can down the road).

    Now comes your “Just one Question”, her first answer was intentionally short, unsupported and dismissive. She wanted to appear open, but knew a trap when she saw it.

    When you and others persisted, she went into full denial mode. “Gun Death” became the only metric of warrant, and any sort of statement about overall murder or violent crime because “Confusing” and “Illogical”.

    She has too many professional ties that would need to be severed for her to admit the truth.

  2. I resent that Joe! I’m absolutely terrible at math. Please don’t hold that against me and lump me in with slow folks like Joan as a result. 🙂

  3. I third the motion, as I said in the other thread: This is not a lack of understanding, this is an intentional act. She is feigning a lack of understanding in a concerted effort to mislead, misdirect and obfuscate.

    Which is what the Bradys do.

  4. “I’m absolutely terrible at math.”

    Yes, math is difficult, but is it really all that more difficult than the many other things we do on a day-to-day basis? Most people assume that, if they don’t get math “immediately”, they never will get it.

    I would propose that, if you are terrible at math, it is most likely because you haven’t taken the time to sit down and really work through example after example until you understood things.

    Algebra, trigonometry, and calculus, in particular, aren’t all that difficult to understand, although attempts to solve particular problems can get very messy. In order to do well at these things, though, you need a firm foundation of basics. You need to be able to do addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division on paper, with at most, help from your fingers…and you need to be prepared to either memorize basic rules, or use those rules so often that they become memorized.

    Things like geometry and linear algebra (or even abstract, for that matter), are trickier, because in these fields, we go from manipulating fields to proving theorems. But a proving theorem is really nothing more than explaining why, given basic facts, your given theorem is true; it’s really just a different way of thinking. And while geometric “proof tables” can be helpful initially in understanding this process, I think it’s a true disservice that they aren’t quickly discarded in favor of “proof paragraphs”!

  5. I have to agree with some of the others; she isn’t as stupid as she appears, she’s just acting that way because she’s dishonest and can’t lie well enough to dismiss the facts.

  6. While I would be willing to accept the fact that the death of her sister has left her so psychologically scarred that she is totally unable to process the idea that “gun crime != all violent crime”, I truly doubt it. We see too many anti’s clinging to that fallacy, and point it out far too often for me to accept that it’s just a mental “blind spot.”

  7. I just read all the updates. My jaw hit the floor at the 1.7 million being prevented from buying a firearm being a good thing. The reason my jaw hit the floor is I am one of those 1.7 million blocked purchases. That purchase block was also illegal as there was no legal reason to prevent my owning or purchase of a firearm.

    You may ask how do I know I could own a firearm legally at that time if I was denied purchasing rights…. Because Washington State Patrol had one of my firearms I had with me during the accident. It was returned to my possession and I also had numerous documents stating all charges were dropped and that all my firearms rights were here by restored. I do have a copy of that letter on permanent file which is from the prosecutor who filed the charges initially. I also immediately visited the local PD and had them run me for an updated CPL, which was immediately issued. It took another year, with my filing paper work and fighting to get that false record corrected. Even now I still get a 72 hour hold when I purchase the weapon. I have to spend money to the ATF to get that last problem fixed. Also I don’t remember where I saw it but I saw some details on how they created the 1.7 million statistic and it was very questionable.

    As far as I’m concerned the system is a total failure and the F@#$ing B!#$% can go to hell. Criminals steal weapons for use in crimes, there’s too much of a paper trail when purchased. It’s obvious she cannot associate that violence is violence and the weapon used doesn’t matter. My wife can defend herself with a firearm against any attacker, she cannot do the same in hand to hand combat (for those who don’t know she has limited use of her right arm and wrist). Just because there is a decrease in firearm related deaths does not indicate a decrease in violent crime. I would say she’s a whole hamburger and an order of fries short of a “Happy Meal”.

    Some time Joe you can ask me how I really feel, though I’m sure you can guess. 😉
    B

  8. Barron,

    I could have completely destroyed her change of topics into the 1.7 million number but it would have been pointless. She is incapable of understanding my arguments.

    By keeping it simple and concise my point is more obvious to the causal observer.

  9. I dunno, her spelling and grammar aren’t too good, she seems to have an extremely poor grasp of the internet, and she has difficulty understanding basic logic. I’m ordinarily wary about going down this path, but I think we can conclude that this woman simply isn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

    In college, my wife saw classmates swayed by PETA propaganda videos due to a combination of limited intellect and a common emotional blind spot (“all animals are cute and innocent!”). I think it’s safe to say that this woman is similar. It’s not so much that she disagrees with us, it’s more that she’s not capable of understanding our reasoning.

  10. I could have completely destroyed her change of topics

    I wish you would have. We need to continue arguments with fence posts like her so the audience can come to understand.

  11. Neal Stephenson has a name for changing the subject like that. He (or the characters in “Anathem”) call it hypotrochial transquaestiation. The proper answer to it is to yell, “Hey! Not so fast!”

    I think the woman is just being a neurotypical woman, except much more so. I betcha she hasn’t missed an issue of “People” magazine since they started publishing the thing. I also betcha she’s some kind of damnedyankee. Most of the Southern girls I know keep and/or carry a piece.

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