And engaging in ad hominem arguments shows that you are unable to have a thoughtful conversation either.

That men like women who listen seems like Psych 101. That is why good conversationalists ask questions. What is interesting is how women shift from this typical psychological response because they are worried about the motivation of the other party. Tells you something, though I'm not sure what.

Boudica is offended by this comment

If you want to make fun of me, feel free to do it directly. Or you know, you could provide your thoughtful opinion instead, like an adult.

well tell me, would you rather die in your sleep or be horrible tormented then killed?

Fair enough and I appreciate your discussing politely.

I disagree re quantifying and ranking trauma is a problem or somehow non-productive. We do this as a society all the time. You see it in the courtroom but that is a reflection of societal values. Otherwise, all crimes would have only one flavor and all punishment for those crimes would be the same. However, that is…

as to point (1) that is true, but also irrelevant to his post since he didn't specify either. as to point (2) so if I only sorta mean to kill you rather than methodically plan to kill you would grant the former less culpability as the law provides? Does it then follow that lying in wait with a knife to rape someone…

way to ruin my image of "agent provocateur" as just sexy lingerie!

I'm sure there are cases where one is objectively less bad than the other, but I grant that his generalizations are way too simplistic and twitter is not the right forum for them. However, even implying that one is less bad doesn't mean it is not still bad. He didn't say the first one wasn't a crime or that the…

I think it is very strange for anyone to try to say anything of substance on twitter, so in that regard he gets what he deserves.

I don't disagree, particularly in the case of very individualized and emotional trauma.

On the other hand, "comparing tragedies" makes up a large part of the law school curriculum.

This happens in the business world all the time as well. Litigation is costly both in terms of dollars and PR, most cases settle in part because of a simple cost benefit analysis.

Actually, I usually associate contingency fee litigators as ambulance chasers taking a 40% "fee"

True enough, but the perpetrator will be punished, in some cases, drastically differently.

Fair enough. Now at what point did Dawkins say it was not bad for the victim? He didn't provide context for the logic, which is his bad. The legal distinction represents a relative degree of culpability we had decided as a society the crimes entail. You can't separate the legal distinction from the general view of…

So jealous rage is an acceptable motive for murder? That will get you Murder II rather than Murder I and in some cases even Manslaughter. Self defense means you aren't charged with murder, which totally mischaracterizes my point.

Look, It's okay to admit you didn't know as much about the different degrees of murder as…

but it is highly unlikely that the settlement was discussed without his knowledge

not to be "that person" but battery is the actual unconsented touching whereas "assault" is threat of imminent battery.

I get that, and appreciate the comment. Doesn't a purely subjective basis prevent any meaningful distinctions about anything, though? Can there be any objective measures? In law, even with subjective things, attempt to do so with the concept of a "reasonable person." But how do you say what level of trauma is…