Of Guns and Spoons

✎ Published: 2008-10-25 10:30:30

The quote 'If guns kill people, then spoons make Michael Moore fat' overlooks key differences between eating and killing. Eating is a self-inflicted act, while gun violence involves social interaction and affects others. These distinctions are significant enough to dismantle the comparison, raising questions about the understanding of such logical relations.

Of Guns and Spoons

I just read the following erroneous quote:

"If guns kill people, then spoons make Michael Moore fat".
Two observations in this regard: (1) There're ample differences between eating and killing. Logical relations adhering to the one verb not necessarily fit the other. (2) while spoons certainly make Michael Moore fat, this act is self-inflicted: My eating with a spoon makes me fat. Guns / Killing is a social act, it relates to others: My shooting with a gun kills other people. I conceive these as important differences; actually so important, that it nullifies the whole comparison that this quote tries to set up. I wonder how cognitively limited a mind has to be, not to realize that.