Open thread, Sept. 29 - Oct.5, 2014

polymathwannabe

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If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.

Notes for future OT posters:

1. Please add the 'open_thread' tag.

2. Check if there is an active Open Thread before posting a new one. (Immediately before; refresh the list-of-threads page before posting.)

3. Open Threads should be posted in Discussion, and not Main.

4. Open Threads should start on Monday, and end on Sunday.

Wouldn't there be proportionately more shots fired if there's more people they see? You'd get the same number of friendly fire casualties either way.

Just because you think of a new factor driving it down and then a new factor driving it up doesn't mean you end up in the same place.

3gjm12y

That would be a slightly less crude toy model, I guess. I would expect the truth to be somewhere in between -- e.g., soldiers have limited ammunition and limited ability to attend to everyone around them in a conflict situation, so the number of shots fired probably increases sublinearly with number of potential targets. In case anyone was in any doubt: I have no knowledge of any of this stuff, have never served in any military force, etc.