On Tue, 12 Jul 2005, Luke Weiger wrote:
>> If senseless means irrational activity without goal or purpose,
>
> Stop attacking that poor strawman! Again, when someone claims that a given
> act of terrorism is "senseless," they're not denying that the terrorists
> responsible have ends which they believe terror promotes. They deny either
> a) that the goal is actually worthwhile or b) that terror actually promotes
> the goal or c) both.
The word "senseless" has a number of meanings. One of them is "purposeless" or "meaningless". In this sense, terrorist attacks (or serial murders) are not senseless. Another meaning is "stupid" or "foolish". In that sense, I agree that terrorist attacks are senseless.
Miles