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Old April 9, 2009, 02:01 PM   #20
Glenn E. Meyer
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Join Date: November 17, 2000
Posts: 20,064
There has been a great deal of research on moral and the causal nature of moral actions.

One big differentiator is between two systems - a moral system that is instinctive and works out a subconscious outrage heuristic.

The other is making moral decisions on overtly conscious cost/benefit analysis.

This dichotomy is active in gun debates.

One moral and automatic heuristic is not to deliberately cause a death. Firearms have as a major purpose the use as a weapon that may cause death. Cars do not have that as a major purpose.

Thus, the gun death rate (even if smaller in number than a car rate) is seen automatically as most henious. The gun and harm connection is deliberate. The car is not.

If you make a second system rational argument about firerarms - you need to understand that you have to talk to the first system mentation also and folks who are outraged by gun deaths won't buy a cost / benefit argument.
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