BehindBlueI's
Grandmaster
- Oct 3, 2012
- 26,608
- 113
Context. While I know you like to pretend that every circumstance is the same, it isn't.
Scenario #1:
I pull up to a military base and a random guy in Class B's comes running out, points a rifle at my car, and tells me to stop or he'll shoot.
Scenario #2:
I pull up to a military base and a random guy wearing a white dress and a vest runs out of a nearby wooded area, points a rifle at me and tells me to stop or he'll shoot.
Scenario #3:
I stop at a stop sign in a rural area. A random guy wearing a ragged flannel shirt and cut off BDU pants runs out of the wooded area, points a rifle out me, and tells me to stop or he'll shoot.
Scenario #4:
I stop at a red light in an urban area. A random guy with no shirt and his pants falling off runs out of a house, points a rifle at me, and tells me to stop or he'll shoot.
Instinctively, I think we all realize that the context of one of these scenarios is quite a bit different. In Scenario #1, you should realize you aren't about to be murdered or carjacked. You'll probably latch on to the idea your car matches a terrorism suspect or the like and that you're about to be inconvenienced but if you comply you're going to survive the encounter. In the other three, you'll realize there the likely scenario is you are about to be the victim of a crime, and will react differently to protect yourself. This is done instinctively. The human brain seeks an explanation for things and fits it into known facts, it does not take an isolated fact and ignore the rest without trying to piece it into an overall hypothesis of what's occurring.
What the OP suggests here and in other threads is that we completely ignore both instinct and context when looking at these scenarios. Even in the Ferguson thread the individuals threatened did not react in fear. They did not cower, flee, or cease their activity. In fact, they continued to engage and taunt with the person that the OP would have us believe they thought was going to kill them. Even someone involved in a protest against supposed police brutality did not really believe they would be shot and killed while complying, or at least not threatening or attacking, a uniformed police officer.
Scenario #1:
I pull up to a military base and a random guy in Class B's comes running out, points a rifle at my car, and tells me to stop or he'll shoot.
Scenario #2:
I pull up to a military base and a random guy wearing a white dress and a vest runs out of a nearby wooded area, points a rifle at me and tells me to stop or he'll shoot.
Scenario #3:
I stop at a stop sign in a rural area. A random guy wearing a ragged flannel shirt and cut off BDU pants runs out of the wooded area, points a rifle out me, and tells me to stop or he'll shoot.
Scenario #4:
I stop at a red light in an urban area. A random guy with no shirt and his pants falling off runs out of a house, points a rifle at me, and tells me to stop or he'll shoot.
Instinctively, I think we all realize that the context of one of these scenarios is quite a bit different. In Scenario #1, you should realize you aren't about to be murdered or carjacked. You'll probably latch on to the idea your car matches a terrorism suspect or the like and that you're about to be inconvenienced but if you comply you're going to survive the encounter. In the other three, you'll realize there the likely scenario is you are about to be the victim of a crime, and will react differently to protect yourself. This is done instinctively. The human brain seeks an explanation for things and fits it into known facts, it does not take an isolated fact and ignore the rest without trying to piece it into an overall hypothesis of what's occurring.
What the OP suggests here and in other threads is that we completely ignore both instinct and context when looking at these scenarios. Even in the Ferguson thread the individuals threatened did not react in fear. They did not cower, flee, or cease their activity. In fact, they continued to engage and taunt with the person that the OP would have us believe they thought was going to kill them. Even someone involved in a protest against supposed police brutality did not really believe they would be shot and killed while complying, or at least not threatening or attacking, a uniformed police officer.