Not Due to Climate Change: The Tammy Meyers Shooting

I rarely follow the latest media hyped (white) killing of the week, but I have found the shooting of  Tammy Meyers  to be a fascinating reflection of Americana.

First, it is a great example of something that really isn't what it appeared to be, and then it is an even better example of Thinking Fast, and not Slow. It seems that almost everyone involved did a lot of reacting and very little planning.  No one seemed to be thinking about probable outcomes.

Reality TV could not do a better job of highlighting the craziness in the current culture.  Guns and drugs in family life.

I have been doing a lot of reading about new discoveries which describe how our brains work. Our brains are marvelously complex products of evolution that can do amazing things. One of those things is the brain's ability to synthesize a huge amount of information very quickly.  However, it has been shown in many of these studies that in order to gain speed, the brain sacrifices accuracy.  We all do it, all the time.  In order to protect us, our brains rush to form an idea of what is going on, and based on that idea, we respond, usually quickly and emotionally. We have evolved to do that, so that we can catch food to eat, instead of being caught and eaten.

The downside of this, and I am paraphrasing one of the scientists, I think it was Dr. Michael Gazzaniga ( but maybe someone else) who said that humans are the only creature we know of who can make up a story, and then get themselves to believe it. But in many ways, that is what we all do, every day.  However, some people's stories offer a better picture of reality than others.

I fear that one of the stories that is common in the mind of some, certainly a minority, but still many, gun owners, is that guns really make them safer, and also that they are better shots than whomever their adversary may turn our to be.  

But in today's complex world, we don't need guns to catch food. They are only helpful in specific, structured situations, such as hunting seasons in the woods.  Taking a gun and going out to find the bad guys usually proves to be problematic. Adding drugs to the mix doesn't help either.  

The foolish, confusing, and truly tragic death of Tammy Meyers is an example of everyone involved getting caught up in their own story; stories that were believed too quickly; with no real consideration of what might happen next. And unlike the video game this resembles, there is no reset button.