The essence of a gun

In his biography on Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson quotes Jobs on saying:

“Products have an essence to them, a purpose for which they were made. If the object were to have feelings, these would be based on its desire to fulfill its essence. The purpose of a glass, for example, is to hold water; if it had feelings, it would be happy when full and sad when empty.”

Now consider this gun:

Look at the handle, with the spaces for the fingers for extra grip. You can see how your fingers would fit there snuggly, with your index finger on the trigger. Pulling the trigger would make your finger line up perfectly with the others.

The essence of this gun is to be shot. It begs to be shot. It’s not built for defence; it is built for offence. And I have to say, that scares me.

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