Quote:
Hiro_Antagonist said:
Quote:
Jack Simth said:
If someone pulls a knife and tells you to go away while he forcefully has his way with your wife, which would you prefer?
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Hmm... I assume your odds are better of being hit by lightning than this sensantionalist event happening. Do you carry a lightning rod too?
-Hiro_Antagonist
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If I'm in an area where thunderstorms are part of the normal course of events, and there aren't lots of things around taller than me (huge swaths of the Great Plains, for instance), I will be thinking about defenses against lightning (but not carrying a lightning rod - that's silly - lightning rods ATTRACT lightning - it's their job, and why they are effective at keeping lightning away from important things, like people's skin - and if you were HOLDING one during a thunderstorm, you would likely be in for a nasty shock), and make sure to have some reasonably viable method of not getting zapped (probably making sure a good steel frame car is within quick walking distance - sure, it will get hit by the lightning - but the lightning will go around anyone in the car, not through them, provided that they avoid touching the metal of the car). Most people who get struck by lightning do so because they are outside, in fields, with nothing meaningfully taller than they are nearby (many are in the middle of swinging a golf club).
The odds of the *specific* event happening? Sure; a lightning strike is more probable (especially as I'm not married). The odds of a violent threat of some form wherein severe injury/death of someone involved is likely due to malicious actions and threats of actions by someone present? Considerably more probable than getting struck by lightning. The example in question was simply chosen because most people put there fundamental assumptions on the side of "it would be ethically acceptable to shoot the antagonist in question" and mostly avoids the magnitude side-issue involved with a mugging example where all the antagonist is after is a person's wallet.
Of course, in the post your partially quoting, you are pulling a statement of mine very thouroughly out of context. Re-read the first two sentances of mine in that post.
Really; re-read them. There's a situational qualifier before the example is brought up. The first two sentences. One of the very first things in that post was noting (briefly, granted) that it depends on the general situation.