It's official: Stupid Facebook memes have become just as ubiquitous as Starbucks coffee shops. In fact, if anything, that may be understating matters. This especially seems to be the case after gun-related tragedies, like the one that took place in Charleston, South Carolina last week, come to the news-front. Just yesterday, I saw a Facebook meme which showcased the character Stewie from Family Guy sporting a gun and supposedly uttering these words:
"So if guns kill people, I guess pencils mis spell words, cars drive drunk, and spoons make people fat."
Yes, we've heard similar arguments before; yes, they've been debunked by Critical Thinking professors nationwide; and no, it doesn't seem these individuals will ever get the point, but still, I feel the need to rebut it.
First off, I find it quite humorous that this meme's author, in trying to appear clever, actually misspelled the word misspell (no, it's not "mis spell"). However, given the rest of the meme's content, I suppose it was only fitting.
There are so many problems with the content of this meme, I honestly don't know where to start. I swear, next to the term "informal fallacy" in the dictionary should be a picture of this meme (and others like it).
The meme insinuates that there are two pathways in all four of these scenarios (either guns kill people or people kill people, pencils misspell words or people misspell words, cars drive drunk or people drive drunk, and spoons make people fat or people make people fat), which is a classic example of the false dilemma fallacy. Since there are more than two potential pathways to these situations, the attempt to compare the four equally doesn't work (yes, there ways to eat other than spoons - not even the soup Nazi was ever caught telling his fellow citizens, "Only soup for you!").
Segueing from that, the meme, in attempting to prove guns don't kill people, fails to present the fact that there are at least two common denominators to all four predicaments. Sadly, they don't all hold the same number of common denominators, which presents us with the false equivalence fallacy.
Gun rights activists often times like to spout the line, "Guns don't kill people; people kill people," however what they fail to both see and present is the fact there are three common denominators to the gun-violence equation: 1) the gun, 2) the shooter, and 3) the victim. Leaving void any of these three components to the equation, we wouldn't have a case of gun violence. In other words, while the shooter is partially responsible for shooting and killing another person, so too is the gun. While there wouldn't be a case of gun violence if not for the shooter, there also wouldn't be such a case without a gun. On the other hand, with the case of drunk driving accidents, there are often times five common denominators to that equation: 1) the car, 2) the driver, 3) the alcohol, 4) another driver, and 5) another vehicle. This isn't always the case of course, but that inconsistency in the formula just showcases how logically unsound this meme's argument is.
Going into more detail about these fallacies, while both poor eating habits and drunk driving can lead to death, just like with gun violence, I've never before heard of a time when a person's life was ended courtesy of a misspelled word. While the author of the meme may have just been attempting to be funny, once again, his (or her) argument lacks consistency. It'd be like if I said, "Knives are sharp, nails are sharp, axes are sharp, basketballs are circular." Such a statement comes across as a multiple choice question on a 5th grader's test, where it's asked, "Which one doesn't belong?" So, yes, once again, while like-minded individuals may raise their fists at such a line, Critical Thinking professors are mumbling, "Oh, for f*ck's sake... Really?"
Even when it comes to obesity and drunk driving, the comparisons fall flat. Obesity can occur through poor eating habits, but also through poor metabolism, so yet again, it's an unequal comparison to gun violence. Also, even if a person eats poorly via spoon for the duration of his (or her) life, the only true victim here is themselves. That's not the case when one person shoots and kills another, or nine other people in a church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Drunk driving possesses the component of alcohol which is void in many cases of gun violence. If the meme's author wanted to compare drunk driving to drunk shooting, then so be it, but even then, the comparison would be anything but perfect. While some states are attempting to do away with requiring training or permits to own a firearm, that's not the case with driving. A person is required to be of a certain age and to obtain a license through passing a written, visual, and driving test. In case of some unfortunate mishaps along the way, a person will also need to continue renewing their drivers license, possibly needing to retake some exams along the way. So once again, this meme falls short in the logic department. If he (or she) wants there to be similar requirements for owning and shooting a firearm as there are for driving an automobile, then he (or she) can make a more logical argument (void of alcohol being in the discussion). I suppose this could also hold true if he (or she) feels that neither drivers nor gun owners should be required to pass any tests before earning a license, but I sincerely hope the person isn't THAT crazy. If neither of these are the case, however, then he (or she) may want to find a different argument.
Yes, I know the reason why most people feel the need to post such memes on the Internet: It's due to a certain fear and paranoia that such tragedies involving guns will lead to the government passing stricter gun laws, which according to them, means, "They're going to take away our guns!" So, in order to try and prove that guns don't kill people (statistics would show otherwise), these individuals often times decide to try and be clever by posting memes which compare gun violence to knives, cars, apparently spoons, and even pencils. However, for as hard as they continue to try and find the perfect such comparison to prove their beliefs, these memes fail time and again on a logical front. Guns don't kill people? Just ask the friends and family members of the nine that were shot and killed at Emanuel Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina a week ago. "More guns would've made it less likely for that many people to have been killed!" Sure, and no guns would have saved all nine individuals' lives.
"So if guns kill people, I guess pencils mis spell words, cars drive drunk, and spoons make people fat."
Yes, we've heard similar arguments before; yes, they've been debunked by Critical Thinking professors nationwide; and no, it doesn't seem these individuals will ever get the point, but still, I feel the need to rebut it.
First off, I find it quite humorous that this meme's author, in trying to appear clever, actually misspelled the word misspell (no, it's not "mis spell"). However, given the rest of the meme's content, I suppose it was only fitting.
There are so many problems with the content of this meme, I honestly don't know where to start. I swear, next to the term "informal fallacy" in the dictionary should be a picture of this meme (and others like it).
The meme insinuates that there are two pathways in all four of these scenarios (either guns kill people or people kill people, pencils misspell words or people misspell words, cars drive drunk or people drive drunk, and spoons make people fat or people make people fat), which is a classic example of the false dilemma fallacy. Since there are more than two potential pathways to these situations, the attempt to compare the four equally doesn't work (yes, there ways to eat other than spoons - not even the soup Nazi was ever caught telling his fellow citizens, "Only soup for you!").
Segueing from that, the meme, in attempting to prove guns don't kill people, fails to present the fact that there are at least two common denominators to all four predicaments. Sadly, they don't all hold the same number of common denominators, which presents us with the false equivalence fallacy.
Gun rights activists often times like to spout the line, "Guns don't kill people; people kill people," however what they fail to both see and present is the fact there are three common denominators to the gun-violence equation: 1) the gun, 2) the shooter, and 3) the victim. Leaving void any of these three components to the equation, we wouldn't have a case of gun violence. In other words, while the shooter is partially responsible for shooting and killing another person, so too is the gun. While there wouldn't be a case of gun violence if not for the shooter, there also wouldn't be such a case without a gun. On the other hand, with the case of drunk driving accidents, there are often times five common denominators to that equation: 1) the car, 2) the driver, 3) the alcohol, 4) another driver, and 5) another vehicle. This isn't always the case of course, but that inconsistency in the formula just showcases how logically unsound this meme's argument is.
Going into more detail about these fallacies, while both poor eating habits and drunk driving can lead to death, just like with gun violence, I've never before heard of a time when a person's life was ended courtesy of a misspelled word. While the author of the meme may have just been attempting to be funny, once again, his (or her) argument lacks consistency. It'd be like if I said, "Knives are sharp, nails are sharp, axes are sharp, basketballs are circular." Such a statement comes across as a multiple choice question on a 5th grader's test, where it's asked, "Which one doesn't belong?" So, yes, once again, while like-minded individuals may raise their fists at such a line, Critical Thinking professors are mumbling, "Oh, for f*ck's sake... Really?"
Even when it comes to obesity and drunk driving, the comparisons fall flat. Obesity can occur through poor eating habits, but also through poor metabolism, so yet again, it's an unequal comparison to gun violence. Also, even if a person eats poorly via spoon for the duration of his (or her) life, the only true victim here is themselves. That's not the case when one person shoots and kills another, or nine other people in a church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Drunk driving possesses the component of alcohol which is void in many cases of gun violence. If the meme's author wanted to compare drunk driving to drunk shooting, then so be it, but even then, the comparison would be anything but perfect. While some states are attempting to do away with requiring training or permits to own a firearm, that's not the case with driving. A person is required to be of a certain age and to obtain a license through passing a written, visual, and driving test. In case of some unfortunate mishaps along the way, a person will also need to continue renewing their drivers license, possibly needing to retake some exams along the way. So once again, this meme falls short in the logic department. If he (or she) wants there to be similar requirements for owning and shooting a firearm as there are for driving an automobile, then he (or she) can make a more logical argument (void of alcohol being in the discussion). I suppose this could also hold true if he (or she) feels that neither drivers nor gun owners should be required to pass any tests before earning a license, but I sincerely hope the person isn't THAT crazy. If neither of these are the case, however, then he (or she) may want to find a different argument.
Yes, I know the reason why most people feel the need to post such memes on the Internet: It's due to a certain fear and paranoia that such tragedies involving guns will lead to the government passing stricter gun laws, which according to them, means, "They're going to take away our guns!" So, in order to try and prove that guns don't kill people (statistics would show otherwise), these individuals often times decide to try and be clever by posting memes which compare gun violence to knives, cars, apparently spoons, and even pencils. However, for as hard as they continue to try and find the perfect such comparison to prove their beliefs, these memes fail time and again on a logical front. Guns don't kill people? Just ask the friends and family members of the nine that were shot and killed at Emanuel Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina a week ago. "More guns would've made it less likely for that many people to have been killed!" Sure, and no guns would have saved all nine individuals' lives.
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