tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post7157228351390549480..comments2023-11-02T07:54:22.317+00:00Comments on Unenlightened Commentary.: The Copycat Instinct.Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02263275229285861236noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-65332369952530494372009-03-29T12:30:00.000+01:002009-03-29T12:30:00.000+01:00This whole area is just too airy-fairy to come to ...This whole area is just too airy-fairy to come to a facile conclusion.<BR/><BR/>If someone is really so impressionable that the mere report, graphic or not, of a suicide will persuade them to kill themselves, despite having no prior suicidal inclinations, then that person is so seriously psychologically flawed that they merit the attention of the mental health system, rather than having society adapt its practices to anticipate and exclude their perverse response. How is such a person going to deal with the ordinary disappointments and difficulties of normal life, let alone suggestive media reports?<BR/><BR/>(Though it seems that much government policy is based on precisely that kind of overdefensive thinking.)<BR/><BR/>It might be that someone who does have suicidal leanings might be tipped over the edge, but then they might equally be tipped over the edge a week later by some entirely unrelated personal event. Then again they might not. That's a bit more tricky.<BR/><BR/>This seems to me like the old argument that access to porn leads directly to rape or other sexual offences. It might. Then again in some potential offenders it might serve as a sufficiently effective displacement. Who knows? Correlating the incidence of sticky wankmags against the count of <I>un</I>molested schoolgirls might well be a fairly tricky research project to set up.<BR/><BR/>This business is, as someone misphrased it, half of one and six dozen of the other. I'd say it's not something that's amenable to quick-fix solutions by wannabe social engineers waving a few dubiously correlated stats about.Edwin Greenwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03639193560457674072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-23398764997476576532009-03-28T18:07:00.000+00:002009-03-28T18:07:00.000+00:00I can see where's he'c coming from, although the c...I can see where's he'c coming from, although the complicated and bloody suicide by chainsaw method is unlikely to provide an inspiration to many people.Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02263275229285861236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-75307703883608628002009-03-28T16:59:00.000+00:002009-03-28T16:59:00.000+00:00It's the 'wrong kind of truth', obviously...It's the 'wrong kind of truth', obviously...JuliaMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07844126589712842477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-61154039589518637372009-03-28T16:46:00.000+00:002009-03-28T16:46:00.000+00:00I find it interesting that Goldacre criticises the...I find it interesting that Goldacre criticises the Telegraph for being too truthful, given that his whole career is dedicated to exposing "bad science".<BR/>Comment is free, and facts are sacred, once again.Peter Briffahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07944248593784819303noreply@blogger.com