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Ask HN: What can we do against terrorist attacks, like the one in Paris?

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Re: Ask HN: What can we do against terrorist attacks, like the one in Paris?

#31

Post by lgieron »

cJ0th wrote: post #26
lgieron wrote: post #25

The terrosist attacks are caused by political, cultural and economic factors, I don't think technology has an important role to play in an eventual solution...

In the grand scheme of things this is possibly the correct answer. However, what technology can do is bring some meaning to more peoples life. One reason people do things like those which happened in Paris is due to the fact that these people are not integrated into a friendly, peaceful society. Thus they feel a void and need to fill it with something that gives them a sense of power and belonging. Technology can be…

I'm not sure if WoW and similar games fulfill the deep needs of connection and belonging people have (for example, Breivik was pretty much playing WoW 24/7 for a couple years before he moved on to his radicalism and, eventually, mass murder). Given by the amount of negative emotions I've seen in online games, my guess is that's more of a paliative, similar to alcohol or drugs. As for the Fight Club -> music production story, that's great and gives some hope. However, most people are not cut for and/or interested in solitary activities like this.

I don't see first option as a viable one, simply because there's currently 1.7 billion Muslims in the world (most of them doesn't support the radicals, but I'm guessing that could change very quickly if their innocent family members get killed during the "levelling of the ground"). It would lead to WWIII.

I think the positive route, along with some smart interventions (i.e. not having borders open to any and all refugees which want to enter Europe, but rather absorbing them at a manageable rate), is the way to go.

Re: Ask HN: What can we do against terrorist attacks, like the one in Paris?

#32

Post by stray »

yongjik wrote: post #15
brogrammer90 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you limp wristed millennials downvoting this? If a mere 1% of the crowd were allowed to carry concealed, even with something wimpy like a Ruger SR22 or S&W M&P 22 Compact, the body count here would be less than 10.

From Wikipedia: > According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2013, firearms (excluding BB and pellet guns) were used in 84,258 nonfatal injuries (26.65 per 100,000 U.S. citizens) [2] and 11,208 deaths by homicide (3.5 per 100,000),[3] 21,175 by suicide with a firearm,[4] 505 deaths due to accidental discharge of a firearm,[4] and 281 deaths due to firearms-use with "undetermined intent"[5] for a…

By that reasoning it is three times more important to prevent automobile ownership, three times more important to prevent access to poisonous substances, and three times more important to prevent high places.

Because the three most common causes of accidental death in the US are Unintentional fall deaths, Motor vehicle traffic deaths, and Unintentional poisoning deaths. And each of those kills roughly three times as many Americans as guns.

When you add in intentional firearm deaths, it's roughly the same as automobile deaths -- yet we give 16 year olds the keys without a second thought.

Re: Ask HN: What can we do against terrorist attacks, like the one in Paris?

#33

Post by cJ0th »

lgieron wrote: post #31
cJ0th wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the grand scheme of things this is possibly the correct answer. However, what technology can do is bring some meaning to more peoples life. One reason people do things like those which happened in Paris is due to the fact that these people are not integrated into a friendly, peaceful society. Thus they feel a void and need to fill it with something that gives them a sense of power and belonging. Technology can be…

I'm not sure if WoW and similar games fulfill the deep needs of connection and belonging people have (for example, Breivik was pretty much playing WoW 24/7 for a couple years before he moved on to his radicalism and, eventually, mass murder). Given by the amount of negative emotions I've seen in online games, my guess is that's more of a paliative, similar to alcohol or drugs. As for the Fight Club -> music productio…

> I don't see first option as a viable one

I agree "option" wasn't a good way to put it. As to Breivik, I didn't know that he played WoW. You are probably right that games don't offer enough substance/not a positive atmosphere.

Re: Ask HN: What can we do against terrorist attacks, like the one in Paris?

#34

Post by kleer001 »

Technology can help increase empathy. At least I think it can. I hope it can.

That technology might help. Maybe by sharing the marginalized stories of vulnerable people.

We've tried fear and anger to stop these kind of things, but it's just like a whack-a-mole. Why don't we try empathy and understanding?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgOVOPLTYI

disclaimer: My heart goes out to all of those touched by needless violence. I in no way endorse violence of any kind, and the perpetrators of such deserve to be caught, tried, and if guilty, locked away for the rest of their lives. That said, those that do overt violence are not the root of the problem. They have (or had) friends and family that could have steered them in a different direction.

Re: Ask HN: What can we do against terrorist attacks, like the one in Paris?

#35

Post by saywahat »

mininao wrote: post #23
brogrammer90 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More than half of these mass killings occur in "gun free zones." Who follows the law? Concealed carry permit holders. Who doesn't? The crazies.

Even if the ones perpetrating these crimes have no gun permits, the existence of gun permits itself makes gun ownership commonplace, allowing the "crazies" easier acquisition and possession of guns

France has strict gun laws but that did nothing to prevent the attack. Instead it turned the good people into defenseless farm animals waiting their turn for slaughter.

Re: Ask HN: What can we do against terrorist attacks, like the one in Paris?

#36

Post by miguelrochefort »

sirrocco wrote: post #7
miguelrochefort wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A recent tweet by Newt Gingrich echoes precisely that: https://twitter.com/newtgingrich/status/665312487147896832 I understand that this is not the popular opinion around here, but I genuinely can't think of an alternative.

I call bullshit on that. Tell me one theater/school/whatever attack in the States that has been foiled by armed citizens.

"Since 2009, 92 Percent of Mass Shootings Have Occurred in Gun-Free Zones"

http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/10/since-2009-92-percent-of-m...

Re: Ask HN: What can we do against terrorist attacks, like the one in Paris?

#37

Post by miguelrochefort »

kohanz wrote: post #8
miguelrochefort wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A recent tweet by Newt Gingrich echoes precisely that: https://twitter.com/newtgingrich/status/665312487147896832 I understand that this is not the popular opinion around here, but I genuinely can't think of an alternative.

Whether you agree with him or not, you have to admit that the timing of that politically-charged tweet was in incredibly poor taste.

I can't think of a better opportunity to post such a tweet.

Re: Ask HN: What can we do against terrorist attacks, like the one in Paris?

#38

Post by miguelrochefort »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #9
miguelrochefort wrote: post #6

The only true way to prevent these acts is to eliminate ideological conflicts altogether. Usually, this is done by letting the state pick a winning ideology and suppress those who don't adhere to it. This tends to ensure a level of homogeneity that makes violence obsolete. A more moderate solution is to allow conflicting ideologies to exist as long as they don't reach extremes. This is usually done through mass surve…

> Namely, law abiding citizens should be able to conceal-carry weapons. Although it couldn't stop all kinds of terrorist attacks, it could very well put a stop to most mass shootings. Here we go again... When I read this, in my head, this analogy comes to mind: "We could stop bombings by allowing all citizens to carry concealed bombs [to use in self-defense]." Now obviously that is an absurd analogy, but it mirrors a…

"Since 2009, 92 Percent of Mass Shootings Have Occurred in Gun-Free Zones"

http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/10/since-2009-92-percent-of-m...

Re: Ask HN: What can we do against terrorist attacks, like the one in Paris?

#39

Post by miguelrochefort »

sirrocco wrote: post #10
miguelrochefort wrote: post #6

The only true way to prevent these acts is to eliminate ideological conflicts altogether. Usually, this is done by letting the state pick a winning ideology and suppress those who don't adhere to it. This tends to ensure a level of homogeneity that makes violence obsolete. A more moderate solution is to allow conflicting ideologies to exist as long as they don't reach extremes. This is usually done through mass surve…

No, having guns won't help one bit. Just name one attack in the States that has been foiled by a citizen. What will happen unfortunately is that the surveillance measures will increase exponentially, normal citizens will throw privacy out the window, terror attacks will still happen. It's the world we live in.

There you go: http://controversialtimes.com/issues/constitutional-rights/1...

Re: Ask HN: What can we do against terrorist attacks, like the one in Paris?

#40

Post by yongjik »

stray wrote: post #32
yongjik wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From Wikipedia: > According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2013, firearms (excluding BB and pellet guns) were used in 84,258 nonfatal injuries (26.65 per 100,000 U.S. citizens) [2] and 11,208 deaths by homicide (3.5 per 100,000),[3] 21,175 by suicide with a firearm,[4] 505 deaths due to accidental discharge of a firearm,[4] and 281 deaths due to firearms-use with "undetermined intent"[5] for a…

By that reasoning it is three times more important to prevent automobile ownership, three times more important to prevent access to poisonous substances, and three times more important to prevent high places. Because the three most common causes of accidental death in the US are Unintentional fall deaths, Motor vehicle traffic deaths, and Unintentional poisoning deaths. And each of those kills roughly three times as…

Of course it is more important to prevent automobile ownership. That's why the US has DMV offices, administrating automobile ownership and zealously preventing "unqualified" people from driving these vehicles. Imagine how many more will die if people say "Driving a vehicle isn't privilege, it's my basic right."

Snark aside, I think we're talking about different problems. The comment I'm replying to proposed that arming citizens will solve (or mitigate) the problem of terrorism. I pointed out that the proposed solution will kill orders of magnitude more people than terrorism itself. Automobiles are a separate problem.

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