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From: mob@mit-amt.MIT.EDU (Mario O. Bourgoin)
Newsgroups: net.legal,soc.singles
Subject: Re: Swinging fists
Message-ID: <341@mit-amt.MIT.EDU>
Date: Fri, 26-Sep-86 20:22:54 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-amt.341
Posted: Fri Sep 26 20:22:54 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 29-Sep-86 03:56:38 EDT
References: <1487@mtx5a.UUCP> <1233@princeton.UUCP> <897@usl.UUCP> <5187@dartvax.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 35
Xref: linus net.legal:4857 soc.singles:234
Summary: These don't seem comparable.

In article <5187@dartvax.UUCP>, chelsea@dartvax.UUCP writes:
>>> "Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins."

In >> Mark Terrible tries  to expand the   meaning  of this  quote  to
include the effects of threats  upon another person.  Karen points out
that   all  actions  including  no   action   can have   unforeseeable
consequences and that probability of a consequence should be the guide
in deciding whether to do an action or refrain. She goes on to say:

> What  bothered  me  about  the  posting is that  it  takes a general
> principle, not a hard-and-fast rule, and tries to tie it down with a
> bunch of what-ifs.  It's a common  tendency, but usually not a  very
> productive one.

The example that Mark chose to illustrate  his point appears to  me to
represent a very probable sequence of events. Heart failure is one  of
the major causes of deaths in the US which leads me to believe  that a
heart condition  is not as  rare as what  you  appear to believe.  Can
agressive behavior  towards  a person with a heart  condition  lead to
heart failure? I don't have evidence on  hand but I  can easily accept
this. Ask  a    heart disease specialist.  The  situation   that Karen
compares Mark's example with, namely brushing her hair, is rather poor
in probable  adverse consequences and therefore   is a poor comparison
with what Mark proposes.

I submit that you did exactly what you claim bothers you: you took the
general principle that "Anything is possible" and tried to tie it down
with improbable what-ifs  to make it say that  Mark's example does not
contribute to the discussion. I find your comment to  be irrelevant to
the discussion. It is unproductive.

--Mario O. Bourgoin

P.S.  I'd  like to hear  about a   "hard-and-fast rule" that you  know
about.