Hypocrisy, Drunk Driving, and Gun Control

Disclaimer:  The point of this article is not to argue for or against gun control.  The point is to illuminate inconsistencies in the way humans think, and to make you stop and think about your own thought processes.

In the United States in 2007 there were 12,632 homicides with a  firearm.  This does not include firearm related suicides (another 17,352).   Accurate statistics of gun ownership is not available, but most estimates are around 200-250 million legally owned firearms in the U.S.  Also in the U.S. during 2007 there were 247 million registered automobiles, and 13,041 fatalities from drunk driving.   In 2006 there were 22,073 alcohol related deaths (I assume this includes deaths from DUI).

For our purposes today, the homicide rates from firearms and guns/DUI is identical.  Of course they are not perfectly identical, and they flip flop on which has more depending on the year.  But the numbers are close enough for this discussion, as absolute accuracy is not required.

Every life is precious.  Every life has untold value left untapped.  The loss of every life has a ripple effect on family, the community, and society.  So why do we not treat fatalities from DUI the same value that we treat fatalities from mass shootings?

Guns, Statistics, and Reporting Bias

Let me start this post with a little disclaimer.  This post is not about gun control.  It’s not pro or anti-gun.  It is about authors who write bad articles.  Articles where the facts are reported in a misleading way– intentionally or not.  This is irresponsible and has fostered a lot of incorrect assumptions about our society and has influenced the creation of worthless laws.  This post could be about almost anything:  climate change, health care, renewable energy, etc.  But I choose to use guns as an example– so you’ll have to just deal with it.

A recent Huffington Post article proclaimed:  Gun Deaths Exceed Motor Vehicle Deaths in 10 Cities.  The article quotes some numbers from a recent study and then goes on to make some interesting statements, including:

• …gun deaths continue unabated — the direct result of the failure of policymakers to acknowledge and act on this ubiquitous and too often ignored public health problem.
• And while the health and safety regulation of motor vehicles stands as a public health success story, firearms remain literally the last consumer product manufactured in the United States not subject to federal health and safety regulation.
• Comprehensive regulation of the firearms industry and its products could include: minimum safety standards (i.e., specific design standards and the requirement of safety devices); bans on certain types of firearms such as “junk guns” and military-style assault weapons; limits on firepower; restrictions on gun possession by those convicted of a violent misdemeanor; heightened restrictions on the carrying of loaded guns in public; improved enforcement of current laws restricting gun possession by persons with histories of domestic violence; more detailed and timely data collection on gun production, sales, use in crime, involvement in injury and death; and, public education about the extreme risks associated with exposure to firearms.

The general idea of the article is that somehow we can reduce the loss of life through gun laws and regulation.  Before we get into this, let’s look at the statistics.  

AfterShokz Bone Conduction Headphone Review

I recently got some AfterShokz headphones, by VoxLinc, LLC.  After looking on the net for reviews of these headphones, and not finding anything by qualified people, I figured I should post my own.

(Disclaimer:  This review is based on my experience and opinion.  That’s all.  Don’t sue me if you don’t like what I have to say.)

The claim to fame for the AfterShokz is they don’t actually go into your ear.  They sit on the cheek bone just in front of your ear and use “bone conduction” to get the sound to your ear.  At least that’s what the marketing material claims.  The benefit of this is that you can still hear whatever is going on around you.  You can ski, bike, or even drive without the safety hazard of not hearing what is going on.

But let’s get to the meat of things, shall we?

These headphones work just OK for the stated purpose:  listening to music while biking, running, skiing, etc.  And that’s it.  The sound quality is just barely adequate.  They don’t sound as good as the standard Apple earbuds that come with every iPod/iPhone/iThing (the same earbuds that are universally panned by critics).  But the sound quality isn’t distracting if you are doing strenuous exercise when sound quality isn’t your top priority.  But if you’re just sitting around at home or in your office then these headphones will leave you wanting.

The Amazing Ribbon Wave

Announcing the new, amazing Ribbon Wave!  Years of audio research and advanced entomological farming have culminated in what is arguably the most stunning advancement in audiophile technology.  The Ribbon Wave is, simply put, perfection in a silk ribbon that when wrapped around your cables will produce audio that has to be heard to be believed.

Ribbon Wave

We started by using selective breeding (no genetic modification here!) to produce Bombyx Audiophillia, a new species of silkworm bred for the sole purpose of making our Ribbon Wave.  The silk produced by B. Audiophillia can remove digital artifacts, unpleasant harmonics, and other irritating effects that modern technology does to our pristine audio.  This silk is woven into ribbons, which can be wound around cables and other audio devices to a dramatic effect.

A Pragmatic Approach To Jitter In Digital Audio

A couple of weeks ago I went to an audiophile trade show (the Rocky Mountain Audiofest).  It was interesting to note that a lot of the exhibitors and participants there were clueless about a great many things.  This article is about one of those things:  Jitter.  After talking with many people there I have come to the conclusion that the overwhelming majority of audiophiles have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to jitter.  Doing a google search for audiophile and jitter also bears that out by showing that no two audiophiles agree on what jitter sounds like!  Jitter is difficult to measure, difficult to quantify, and is very technical.  It should be no great surprise that this is fertile ground for misinformation, misunderstanding, and fraud.  This article will try to put a dose of reality and perspective on the issue of jitter.

Adventures at the Rocky Mountain Audiofest

This past weekend I went to the Rocky Mountain Audiofest.  RMAF is a tradeshow for audiophiles.  Three days of stuff at the Marriott Hotel at the Denver Tech Center.  I don’t know the exact count, but there was somewhere between 200 and 400 exhibitors.

It Looks Better Than It Sounds

If you didn’t know, I have a love-hate relationship with audiophiles.  I certainly applaud the efforts to make excellent sound systems.  But human perception of sound is a very subjective thing, and good audio equipment is a very technical thing that not everybody can understand.  When you combine something subjective with a lack of understanding then you open the doors wide open for pseudo-science and downright fraud.

You could roughly divide up the companies at RMAF into three rough categories:  Awesome, Clueless, and Deceitful.  From a practical perspective there isn’t much difference between Clueless and Deceitful.  It’s much like the difference between involuntary manslaughter and first degree murder.  Both result in somebody innocent dying,  but the deceitful company does it knowing full well what they are doing.

What surprised me at RMAF is that I expected much more deceitful companies.  I expected that maybe 50% of the companies would be in this category.  The real number was probably less than 10%.  Unfortunately, maybe 80% were clueless and only 10% were awesome.

Quote Mining and the Bible

It always frustrates me when people take a quote out of context in order to make their point seem more valid.  The popular term for this is called “Quote Mining”.  Everybody does this to some extent, but some bring it to a deceitful level– possibly a criminal level.   There are countless examples of this including, but not limited to, the current presidential campaign speeches, the news media, young earth creationists, global warming deniers, etc.  When taken to the illogical extreme, quote mining can produce some very compelling quotes.  For example:

“There is no God” — Psalm 14:1

Of course, when put into context that passage really says:

“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” ” — Psalm 14:1

Of course, quote mining is most successful when applied to a large body of text that is difficult to interpret, has been translated from different languages, and is old.  Especially a text where people are reluctant to read it themselves.  I am, of course, referring to the Bible.  Although other texts are not immune to it as well.  The works of Nostradamus are very fertile soil for quote mining!

So the question I had was, “How easy is it to quote mine the bible?”  I decided to try an experiment.  I asked my friends on Facebook for some statements that were obviously false.  I didn’t tell them why I wanted the statements.  Once I got some, I picked one out and attempted to justify it using scripture from the Bible.  What follows is a complete work of fiction.  It is made up, using quote mining and other techniques to make sense out of an irrational position.  Enjoy!