Why Do People Fear Folding Knives?

[Benjamin Liu]

If you go into the deepest, darkest areas of the Amazon Rainforest, and walk into a settlement of half naked aboriginals while carrying a knife in your hand, they're gonna fear you. Sure, some of the fear will be because you're a stranger, but the knife will definitely add a degree of "survival" panic.

Somehow I doubt that people accustomed to using machetes since childhood would fear a knife. Even if you were hostile, they'd have the big blades and the lifetime of using it daily.

They wouldn't think, "Oh no! He has a knife! I'm gonna die!"

Instead they'd probably think," That's a cute little knife. It'll make a nice gift for the kids."

 

[Benjamin Liu]

I'd like to clarify that it is possible to be conservative and be afraid of knives, but once you cross the line and support government making and enforcing anti-knife laws, you cease to be a conservative.

 

[crustaceanmick]

Which conservatives (read: not republicans) support gun control? Didn't Bush's appointed judges just rule a ban on guns in D.C. unconstitutional? I don't consider the bush administration "conservative" by any means anyway, but...

The Bill of Rights (NOT in the original constitution) ratified 12/15/1791
Amendment II:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

This is what the supremes just recently ruled on. In a 5 to 4 vote, they ruled that the "right to keep and bear arms" was not connected to service in a "Militia", and so the "well regulated" provision did not apply.

Wonder what they did mean when they wrote, "A well regulated Militia" ? (as the precedent to the rest of the sentence) I'm sure it must have been discussed in the arguments of the recent ruling. I'll see if I can find it.

But my original question was not about this. I was asking about the people who have introduced legislature (in localized government) that would REQUIRE the ownership of firearms. Are they liberals?

(doin research on marriage now but my computer skills are extremely limited) More later. CM.

 

[crustaceanmick]

Somehow I doubt that people accustomed to using machetes since childhood would fear a knife. Even if you were hostile, they'd have the big blades and the lifetime of using it daily.

They wouldn't think, "Oh no! He has a knife! I'm gonna die!"

Instead they'd probably think," That's a cute little knife. It'll make a nice gift for the kids."

I don't think that you are correct.

Most cops have been using their firearms since they were just kids, but just walk into a police station with a knife in you hand and see what happens!

 

[Benjamin Liu]

The Bill of Rights was not originally part of the Consitution as it was written because it was not seen as needed. The writers considered the federal government to have only the powers specifically given to it in the Consitution, and as there were no provisions to violate any of these rights, by following the Consitution as intended these rights would not be violated.

The Bill of Rights was insisted on by several States in order to ratify the Consitution.

The concept of individuals having the RKBA, especially for protection against an out-of-control government, was part of the Founding Fathers' intent, as shown in their other writings explaining the Consitution. The Founding Fathers were far closer to the Libertarina Party than the were to either the Republican or Democratic Parties.

As to your question about making anti-knife laws, no they are not Liberals. They are socialist government supremacists. A true Liberal is closer to a Libertarian than to any other large modern political movement.

 

[hardheart]

 

[Benjamin Liu]

I don't think that you are correct.

Most cops have been using their firearms since they were just kids, but just walk into a police station with a knife in you hand and see what happens!

Tribesmen who use large knives on a daily basis cannot be compared to cops. Cops often see knives as weapons, and in addition they are required to enforce antiknife laws in jurisdictions that have them. A person who has a job that requires him to patrol the streets looking for people committing crimes will have a very different worldview than a person who roams the jungle cutting vegetation with a machete. The odds of a cop being attacked is probably also higher than a tribesman being attacked.

 

[crustaceanmick]

Somehow I doubt that people accustomed to using machetes since childhood would fear a knife. Even if you were hostile, they'd have the big blades and the lifetime of using it daily.

They wouldn't think, "Oh no! He has a knife! I'm gonna die!"

Instead they'd probably think," That's a cute little knife. It'll make a nice gift for the kids."

I never said they would think "Oh no! He has a knife! I'm gonna die!"
(reframe the question much? you're watching too much O Reilly!)

It would be more along the lines of, "Who the hell is this guy and why is he carrying that weapon in his hand?"
And yes, there would be a degree of fear of death.

Do you honestly believe the knife wouldn't increase the threat/fear factor?

 

[crustaceanmick]

I kind of doubt that, for one thing the aborigonies live in austrailia, but details aside, I think if all you have with you is a knife you are at a disadvantage as a stranger in a strange land. You would be scared, the natives would sense this, they would either impale you immedialty with whatever weapon they use to hunt larger and more dangerous game, or play with you, taunting you until you get tired, then impale you.

Look up the definition of "aboriginal". Then get back to me about Australia! (details!?! so annoying! why bother to get em right!?)

Why would they immediately attack you?

Maybe because the fact that you walked into THEIR camp would tend to indicate that you weren't afraid, and the fact that you were carrying a WEAPON in your hand would signal that you could be a threat?

PS. (those old Tarzan movies weren't real) Try some DISCOVERY!

 

[crustaceanmick]

Tribesmen who use large knives on a daily basis cannot be compared to cops. Cops often see knives as weapons, and in addition they are required to enforce antiknife laws in jurisdictions that have them. A person who has a job that requires him to patrol the streets looking for people committing crimes will have a very different worldview than a person who roams the jungle cutting vegetation with a machete. The odds of a cop being attacked is probably also higher than a tribesman being attacked.

"Tribesmen" DON"T see knives as weapons?

So if you're walking along in the jungle with your knife in your hand, and you see a settlement of natives and decide to go over and try to make friends, you're NOT going to put your knife away first!?

If so . . . I'll wait over here.

PS. The odds of a cop being attacked with an edged weapon is higher than a native in the Amazon rainforest??? I dunno bout that. (quite a few variables there)

 

[Benjamin Liu]

If you had a machete and grew up using it daily, would you be concerned about a guy with a pocketknife?

Even if he was hostile, his knife is tiny compared to the machete, he won't be anywhere as experienced (IMO a lifetime of machete use, chopping up vegetation, trumps a few years of dojo training 3x/wk, and most people carrying knives are nowhere near that experienced,) and he won't be moving naturaly through the jungle. As a weapon, even a club would be superior.

To bring this back into reality and out of your fantasy world, I've lived in the country in the 1980s where almost all guys carried a pocketknife. It also wasn't unusual to see people whittling in public, and even some kids throwing their knives into the dirt (not that I'd do that to my knife.) These people don't panic when they see a knife in public. Now, if you were to act in a threatening manner and pull a knife, that would be a different story, but a mere display of a knife would not be unusual. When I was 11 a friend an I each bought a machete at Wal-Mart. The cashier told us to be careful with them, but she did not scream and call the police. I've sharpened pencils with my pocketknife during tests when we were not allowed to leave our desks t sharpen our pencils, and no one panicked. If a kid did that today he'd be arrested and maybe labeled a terrorist. Most adults who'd see us with our knives, BB guns, toy guns, etc. would think more along the lines as that being typical boy behavior, and the PC fanatics were far fewer than today.

Going into the city, many people eat at restraunts where they are given steak knives, many times being equal or superior to typical folders as weapons. If it was just some sort of primal instinct to fear knives rather than social conditioning, they'd panic at the sight of them. I've never seen anyone panic in any restraunt for any reason.

Seriously, are you in your 20s or younger? I find it hard to believe that anyone over 30 would not remember a time when knives were considered normal and nothign to fear.

 

[crustaceanmick]

If you had a machete and grew up using it daily, would you be concerned about a guy with a pocketknife?

Even if he was hostile, his knife is tiny compared to the machete, he won't be anywhere as experienced (IMO a lifetime of machete use, chopping up vegetation, trumps a few years of dojo training 3x/wk, and most people carrying knives are nowhere near that experienced,) and he won't be moving naturaly through the jungle. As a weapon, even a club would be superior.

To bring this back into reality and out of your fantasy world, I've lived in the country in the 1980s where almost all guys carried a pocketknife. It also wasn't unusual to see people whittling in public, and even some kids throwing their knives into the dirt (not that I'd do that to my knife.) These people don't panic when they see a knife in public. Now, if you were to act in a threatening manner and pull a knife, that would be a different story, but a mere display of a knife would not be unusual. When I was 11 a friend an I each bought a machete at Wal-Mart. The cashier told us to be careful with them, but she did not scream and call the police. I've sharpened pencils with my pocketknife during tests when we were not allowed to leave our desks t sharpen our pencils, and no one panicked. If a kid did that today he'd be arrested and maybe labeled a terrorist. Most adults who'd see us with our knives, BB guns, toy guns, etc. would think more along the lines as that being typical boy behavior, and the PC fanatics were far fewer than today.

Going into the city, many people eat at restraunts where they are given steak knives, many times being equal or superior to typical folders as weapons. If it was just some sort of primal instinct to fear knives rather than social conditioning, they'd panic at the sight of them. I've never seen anyone panic in any restraunt for any reason.

Seriously, are you in your 20s or younger? I find it hard to believe that anyone over 30 would not remember a time when knives were considered normal and nothign to fear.

Dear Mister Fantasy,
First of all, you might remember the title of this thread is "Why do people "FEAR" folding knives?" So evidently quite a few do. I've been carrying a pocket knife since I was 10 years old (got it for my birthday), and I do remember a time when people weren't as freaked out by knives as they apparently are today. Personally, I dont recall anyone freaking out about my knives. (or even being mildly concerned)

Now, to your fist question. When I go camping with my GUN. If some stranger walks into my camp with a knife in his hand, YEAH. I'd be concerned until I could determine that he wasn't a danger. Which may only take a few seconds, but the knife would definitely signal to my brain a possibility of danger. More so than if the person didn't have the knife. And of course different kinds of knives would elicit different levels of threat/fear response.

And now to your second question.

Seriously!? . . . The 80's?

I'd been out of high school for nine years!

Now go to bed junior.

 

[stabman]

I'd been out of high school for nine years!

Now go to bed junior. :jerkit:

Pah, I'VE been done with high school since 1994!
So there.

 

[Bushman5]

hell, the older kids n school where i grew up used to bring their rifles to class (stored in lockers) and go hunting or target shooting at lunch hour. No one freaked out seeing a kid walking thru the school with a rifle, bow, and a knife on the belt.

Of course back then kids had chores in the mornings, school all day, chores/farm work after school and a good family life.

 

[Benjamin Liu]

Dear Mister Fantasy,
First of all, you might remember the title of this thread is "Why do people "FEAR" folding knives?" So evidently quite a few do. I've been carrying a pocket knife since I was 10 years old (got it for my birthday), and I do remember a time when people weren't as freaked out by knives as they apparently are today. Personally, I dont recall anyone freaking out about my knives. (or even being mildly concerned)...

Consider this, how do you justify your position that a fear of knives is inherent in humns as opposed to my position that is is programmed by society?

 

[Lycosa]

This Thread will now be feared!!

 

[Papacat]

The real mystery is why the boss sided with the ditsy secretary.

Women stick together...even when they're wrong.

As for why people freak out when they see a folder? The simplest explanation is that they're stupid and fear the unknown. The one I don't get is when people freak out at the sight of an opened Swiss Army Knife.

-Papacat.

 

[TheWarrior]

Still, had I picked up a pair of scissors and opened the box, the woman wouldn't have even blinked, but because it was a pocket knife, she went bonkers. So what is it, some primordial, genetic memory from the stone age or what?QUOTE]

Because we now live in the days where men are supposed to be cowardly, spineless metrosexuals (at best), that's why!

Knives and guns "kill"! Only murderous criminals with violent histories carry them, everyone knows that!

...

Ugh. I wish I lived in the barbarian days. I'd carry an axe, and no one would say a thing about it.

Spencer

 

[crustaceanmick]

Dear Mister Fantasy,
First of all, you might remember the title of this thread is "Why do people "FEAR" folding knives?" So evidently quite a few do. I've been carrying a pocket knife since I was 10 years old (got it for my birthday), and I do remember a time when people weren't as freaked out by knives as they apparently are today. Personally, I dont recall anyone freaking out about my knives. (or even being mildly concerned)...

Consider this, how do you justify your position that a fear of knives is inherent in humns as opposed to my position that is is programmed by society?

There you go again. Reframing the question. (do you write for fox news?)

I never said that fear of knives was inherent in humans, nor did I say that social programming had nothing to do with it.

If you recall the title of the post (#91) was, "SCREW THE POLITICIANS".
(which includes BOTH the liberals and the conservatives)

Because so many of the previous posts had been people whining about liberals spreading fear, and then hiding in a crowd of semantics when it came to conservatives, I was attempting to remove the politics. The fantasy land of the Amazon rain forest is pretty far away from US. politics. (maybe I shoulda gone to Borneo, or Sumatra, but gas prices ya know!) Anyhow, apparently my hypothetical was just to simple to understand. I didn't attempt to fill in all the possible variables because there would literally be . . . a WHOLE BUNCH of them! But a few posters (including yourself) seemed intent on finding the variables that wouldn't support my point. This happens almost anytime someone sets up a hypothetical. Unless you nail down EVERY detail, some people, often people who already disagree with you, (Politics?) will go out of their way to avoid seeing the point that is attempting to be made. Or maybe they REALLY can't see it. And maybe you REALLY don't.
It's just that you seem pretty intelligent, which makes it difficult for me to accept that you can't see my point of view. (yes I know. I can be an arrogant bastard at times!) But I digress!

I"ll try to make it simpler.

People all over the world have been using knives as both, TOOLS and WEAPONS, for a LONG time. (2,000 - 200,000 years?) Whatever.

You cannot separate the tool from the weapon (and at the risk of losing you here, I'm gonna throw in just a small hint of poetry and say) from the blood.

Because of this, knives will invariably be linked to (among other things) killing, and death.

So, depending on a WHOLE BUNCH of variables, (Familiarity and Trust, being at the top of the list) knives, and all weapons for that matter, will at times, induce fear.

with sincere respect, CM.


("Blood is the Rose of Mysterious Union." - Jim Morrison)

 

[Benjamin Liu]

That still doesn't explain why most people were not paranoid around knives in the 1980s and then in the 1990s they became paranoid. The only explanation is some sort of societal conditioning. This conditiong isn't hypothetical, it could easily be seen in the media and school system.

Regarding the supposed "liberals" and "conservatives," for many those terms are just labels for their parties. Most politicians from both parties believe in the same thing, government supremacy over the individual citizen. Government supremacists, whatever they call themselves, want to control people. That is why they support gun control, knife control, property forfeiture, Big Brother cameras spying on citizens, federal ID, etc. Politicians in both parties support such assaults on liberty.