CronoDAS comments on Computer security story - Less Wrong

2 Post author: Perplexed 17 February 2011 12:26AM

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Comment author: CronoDAS 17 February 2011 07:06:00PM 2 points [-]

It's not that hard to kill most people, but it's usually pretty hard to kill someone without getting caught.

Comment author: TheOtherDave 17 February 2011 10:05:34PM 4 points [-]

Killing most people would be tough! I suspect I'd be stopped well before reaching .0001% of people, myself.

Comment author: sixes_and_sevens 17 February 2011 11:30:47PM 3 points [-]

Have you ever actually tried?

Don't get me wrong, I've not actually tried to kill anyone either, but I've thought about the pragmatics of it, and I don't think premeditated murder is actually prohibitively difficult to get away with. I'm pretty sure it's more of a psychological barrier than anything else.

Comment author: jdinkum 17 February 2011 08:02:12PM 3 points [-]

Really? One of three murders in the U.S. go unsolved.

http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/data/table_25.html

Comment author: Vladimir_M 19 February 2011 07:13:07PM *  3 points [-]

jdinkum:

One of three murders in the U.S. go unsolved.

That's not a good number to base your calculations on. Getting away with any crime nowadays is extremely difficult if the police and prosecutors are willing to invest significant resources in investigating and prosecuting it. How much they'll be willing to invest heavily depends on all sorts of circumstances, even when it comes to the most serious crimes.

In particular, murders and other violent crimes are investigated far more vigorously if committed in a respectable environment, in a way makes high-status people feel unsafe.