Not arbitrary. Base 10 because we usually have 10 fingers and those are useful for learning counting. If you have to choose a base, 10 is a good option for humans.
Neither the gun alone nor the person alone would have killed. Therefore, the dangerous thing is the COMBINATION of gun + person. In conclusion, we shouldn’t ban guns, just make it illegal for people to interact with them in any way.
If you’re a procrastinator it can help to use that “skill” to incentivize stuff like reading. I habitually put off going to sleep, so I’ll read as a way to delay bedtime. If I want to avoid working on a big ongoing frustrating project at work I’ll do a bunch of little work tasks to put it off. Using that desperation to do literally anything else to avoid a particular task kind of feels like a superpower!
It will never be exactly the same, but I feel lucky to have found something that captures at least part of the feeling of what Reddit used to be like. There’s the potential for it to grow into something just as cool in its own way, or maybe even better. And for now, it scratches that culture and discussion itch well enough that I don’t feel the need to wade back in to Reddit at all except for searching for specific answers to niche questions.
Do you understand your opponent’s argument well enough to phrase it in words they would agree with? Because this seems like a gross mischaracterization that leads me to think you’re either ignorant of why someone would be happy he’s dead, or you’re deliberately lying.
So give it a try… why would a rational person actually be glad Kirk is dead? You can disagree with the reasons, but if you can’t even ARTICULATE them, I’d argue you’re the one who is either an idiot or a psychopath.
If the concern is about the longevity and reputation of the quack institution, you could point her to a woo factory with accreditation and a better reputation among the crystal crowd, like Naropa in Boulder, CO.
I feel for all the people who will have to live with the fear and trauma of witnessing this. I’m glad nobody else was hurt. This type of violence is a consequence of our gun-obsessed and highly politically polarized culture, which Kirk had a massive hand in making worse. I hope we can focus on the damage his rhetoric has caused and those who were taken in by him can use this as a learning moment.
Artist’s rendering for the uninitiated: