Silver bullet

A silver bullet is any proposal or belief that rests on some one simple thing being the solution to a massive and complex problem. It's one of those things that sounds common sense but in reality is completely idiotic—a favorite device of the intellectually lazy who do not want to deal with your petty complications and nuance. Silver bullets show up in fake science and fake economics, and should be an immediate red flag that somebody is desperately trying to find rationale for a conclusion they arbitrarily chose at some point in their adolescence.

“”I define anarchist society as one where there is no legal possibility for coercive aggression against the person or property of any individual.
—Murray Rothbard, who kept a case of silver bullets in his closet

The term is derived from werewolf folklore, where a silver bullet is required to kill the beast. Since silver bullets are effective for killing just about anything in your average monster story, it is also used to describe an object or idea which should "fix everything." [1] In real life, a bullet made from 100% silver is not only much more expensive than a bullet made from more mundane material like lead, copper, tungsten or depleted uranium (essentially waste), but also less effective in terms of accuracy in tests using modern weapons (attributed to the level of precision required in silver bullet manufacture).[2]

See also

Fotnotes
  1. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/silver-bullet.html
  2. "Hollywood Gunslingers", Mythbusters Ep. 189
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