Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id HAA20596 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Tue, 15 Jan 2002 07:15:26 GMT X-Sender: unicorn@pop.greenepa.net Message-Id: <p04320405b86938d464d5@[192.168.2.3]> In-Reply-To: <5.1.0.14.0.20020114135944.02c3f0d0@pop.cogeco.ca> References: <5.1.0.14.0.20020114135944.02c3f0d0@pop.cogeco.ca> Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 02:11:36 -0500 To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk From: "Francesca S. Alcorn" <unicorn@greenepa.net> Subject: RE: CRASH CONTAGION Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>
>Right. For a causal relation to be suspected the "caused" event
>must happen later in time, and the alternative of both being caused
>by some unknown event must be ruled out or at least considered
>unlikely. I consider it possible but unlikely that the spike in
>suicides following media reports has a common relation to some
>unknown event. Do you have a different opinion?
Black Friday. Ease of access to guns. "Disintegration of family
values." Even in the whole "going postal" thing there was some
discussion of the "corporate culture" of the USPS which lead to
greater employee stress and unhappiness. The media reports confound
the issue, because you don't know whether or not the suicides would
have happened if it weren't reported. I don't think there is ever an
instance where someone commits suicide only because of the media,
there is usually other stuff going on in their life. And there are
certainly forces which effect large populations, so they are
happening in many people's lives simultaneously. This starts to
sound like my history class: sufficient causes, final causes and
contributing causes. It's rarely an all-or-nothing matter.
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