5 ms·
If everyone had to suffer everything that they inflicted on others, we’d soon live in a near utopia. One can dream...
by DougN7 7y ago
If everyone had to suffer everything that they inflicted on others, we’d soon live in a near utopia. One can dream...
- dredmorbius 7y agoOr we'd select for masochists.
- SuoDuanDao 7y agoNot sure why you're getting downvoted, it seems like a perfectly plausible outcome to me.
- dredmorbius 7y agoInspired by a "what could possibly go wrong" moment. Selection incentives are a real beast.
- kevingadd 7y agoOne thing shown by modern politics is that you're absolutely correct: Plenty of people in modern society are happy to act (and in particular, vote) in a way that will hurt them as long as they think someone who deserves it will be hurt more. Not to mention that some people simply won't be hurt by things that other people can't handle.
- lixtra 7y agoOr sadists. If you consider that Hitler went through gas warfare I have no optimism that we would be better off with politicians that know war.
- NotSammyHagar 7y agoKnowing human nature, if we all had to share those warlike conditions, maybe we'd just endure sucking for everyone to keep the war effort going.
- fallingfrog 7y agoYou know at first that sounds glib but the more I think about it the more profound that statement appears..
- crankylinuxuser 7y agoOne could accomplish that with forced empathy and memory injection. We already have fMRI tech that can do some of that.
- Ididntdothis 7y agoWe don’t need fMRI. There is plenty of opportunity to experience the conditions first hand.
- kingkawn 7y agoThe ease with which you’ve transformed empathy into a form of oppression...
- crankylinuxuser 7y agoI'm certainly not the only one to think of this. I know of Twilight Zone episodes to have used that. Specifically one I can think of is the Dachau Nazi "doctor" comes back to relive his glory days, and is forced by the ghosts who still live there to forcefully feel their pain for the rest of his life. It's supernatural, but still the same idea. There were also episodes of Outer Limits that did similar, but with a machine that forced them to live with the crime they committed. I believe Black Mirror also did some of this as well.
- fallingfrog 7y agoIf I could elaborate more I was just thinking of various statements of political philosophy that people have made to me in the past. “The Golden rule is the one thing that all religions have in common.” “Liberals just want to spread the misery around.” “What we need is facts and logic, not emotion.” “Liberty, equality, fraternity.” “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” I can’t tie this all up in a bow but there are some interesting themes and counter themes there. If I was a philosophy major I might be able to make more sense.
- Eric_WVGG 7y agoThere’s a really great science fiction novel where that’s sort of the climax, but I guess I can’t cite it without dropping a mammoth spoiler…