Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by shkkmo 690 days ago
> "Traffic violence" implies deliberate acts intended to cause harm

Not really. The violence of traffic crashes increases as the speed increases.

2 comments

Without devolving into a discussion of semantics too much, violence really does imply some intent to harm another person, or people.

If I drive at ~200km/h on my way from Berlin to Munich, am I "being violent"?

> violence really does imply some intent to harm another person, or people.

That is one of the meanings/senses of the word, but not the only one.

It is perfectly reasonable to say that driving ~200km/h is a violent speed without saying the the driver is being violent because those are two different senses of the word.

> violence of traffic crashes

Within an individual human context, violence usually requires intent.

> Within an individual human context, violence usually requires intent.

There is a sense of the word that implies intent, but that is only one of the senses and another sense that means "forceful or strong" is often used in describing traits of individual humans and their behavior emotions. A violent nod is not a nod intended to cause harm. The violence of someone's emotions refers to their strength, not their intent.