Solf J Kimblee (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
explosivecombat) wrote2015-01-19 07:16 pm
explosivecombat) wrote2015-01-19 07:16 pm
Entry tags:
- !ic,
- *action,
- *text,
- @armin arlert,
- @frank archer's utter lack of subtlety,
- @kaine,
- @ken kaneki,
- @rideaux,
- @schuldig,
- admittedly kind of asking for it,
- also acasta,
- also carlisle,
- archer's gonna kill him,
- because awesome that's why,
- being you guys is suffering,
- but is everyone mad about genocide,
- engaging in heresy,
- god is dead and my tl;dr has killed him,
- good ideas are clearly relative concepts,
- hell are you even,
- how edgy of you,
- itp: we discuss zombies,
- like a brick to the face,
- my social skills are flawless,
- my spinal cord is totally dancing rn,
- no sense of self-preservation,
- pokespe tactics (don't work well here),
- professor of fauxlosophy,
- sanity is so passé,
- stupidly dangerous battling tactics,
- surprisingly not plotting anyone's death,
- texting into the void,
- that may have been a bit insensitive,
- that wasn't morbid at all,
- this is gonna suck,
- this is really stupid,
- this skill is never going to be useful,
- tonight we're going hard,
- well that's needlessly sinister,
- why we can't have nice things,
- with apologies to carmen sandiego
040. [Text/Action for Route 34]
[TEXT]
As a former soldier, I've had to consider and handle the question of when it's considered acceptable to take another life. It's hardly a question here, since in this world life is incredibly well-protected and death is incredibly cheap; however, seeing as this place hasn't just dissolved into an anarchic killing spree, it seems that most of us still have a basic grasp on morality as we understand it and are of the basic consensus that "murder is bad."
I suppose my question then is where the line is, for most of the people here, and where the difference lies between murder and self-defense. There's the obvious understanding that if someone is trying to kill you, you likely won't just stand there and let them do it; you're probably going to defend yourself or even fight back, no matter how much of a pacifist you are.
But surely there are places where the criteria becomes a bit more difficult to discern...? Say that you have two people drowning in the ocean; there's a plank nearby that will support the weight of one of them. Without use of the plank, both people will surely die. Person A gets there first, but Person B shoves them off, saving themselves but causing Person A to drown in the process.
Was what Person B did murder? Probably. But they were also going to die if they didn't do it – isn't that just another form of self-defense?
What if Person A fought back and was able to hold their position? That's self-defense, in all probability – but they're also deliberately ensuring the death of another person. Is Person A a murderer for doing so?
Does it matter? Either way, a person is dead because someone else valued their own life more. A life is over and somehow I doubt whatever words the living use to make themselves feel better matter much to the deceased.
...I suppose now is when I apologize for the morbidity of the subject matter, although honestly it seems I can't let a year pass in which I don't ask some sort of horribly inappropriate question about murder. I suppose I'm just getting it out of the way early this year.
[ACTION]
[...And in contrast to that self-admitted horribly inappropriate question about murder, Kimblee actually is doing rather well today; if anything, he seems pleased that the weather has broken and it was above freezing for a few blessed moments today, since that means he can actually go outside and not spend most of his time shut in the base. It's large enough to keep him from getting too worked up, but it's still windowless and claustrophobic and if he can be outside, then dammit, he will be outside.
He's just outside Goldenrod today; he's up on Acasta.
It's been a while since he's done anything from up on top of the Steelix – travel is one thing, but battle is another entirely, and he's got some of his other high-leveled Pokémon out with him for the sake of satisfying that latter desire; Acasta's up against Carlisle right now, and from the look of it, it's not so much Kimblee's job to command as it is to not fall right the hell off. But his balance is good and his gaze is incredibly focused, and from the sound of it, he's having a grand time – he's laughing quite a bit, and it's cold and there's entirely too much ice around and he's done this before and it was a good time then, too.
He manages to jump down when a well-timed Earthquake finally takes Acasta out, ensuring that he's well clear of the steelsnake when it falls; apparently he's not having fun unless everyone stands a great chance of dying, and today isn't much of an exception. At least he'll be unoccupied with battle for a while as he spends a while seeking out a Revive that he has somewhere on his person; whether he's going back up later or just doesn't want to leave Acasta unconscious is a bit hard to say, but either way he's around for conversation.]
As a former soldier, I've had to consider and handle the question of when it's considered acceptable to take another life. It's hardly a question here, since in this world life is incredibly well-protected and death is incredibly cheap; however, seeing as this place hasn't just dissolved into an anarchic killing spree, it seems that most of us still have a basic grasp on morality as we understand it and are of the basic consensus that "murder is bad."
I suppose my question then is where the line is, for most of the people here, and where the difference lies between murder and self-defense. There's the obvious understanding that if someone is trying to kill you, you likely won't just stand there and let them do it; you're probably going to defend yourself or even fight back, no matter how much of a pacifist you are.
But surely there are places where the criteria becomes a bit more difficult to discern...? Say that you have two people drowning in the ocean; there's a plank nearby that will support the weight of one of them. Without use of the plank, both people will surely die. Person A gets there first, but Person B shoves them off, saving themselves but causing Person A to drown in the process.
Was what Person B did murder? Probably. But they were also going to die if they didn't do it – isn't that just another form of self-defense?
What if Person A fought back and was able to hold their position? That's self-defense, in all probability – but they're also deliberately ensuring the death of another person. Is Person A a murderer for doing so?
Does it matter? Either way, a person is dead because someone else valued their own life more. A life is over and somehow I doubt whatever words the living use to make themselves feel better matter much to the deceased.
...I suppose now is when I apologize for the morbidity of the subject matter, although honestly it seems I can't let a year pass in which I don't ask some sort of horribly inappropriate question about murder. I suppose I'm just getting it out of the way early this year.
[ACTION]
[...And in contrast to that self-admitted horribly inappropriate question about murder, Kimblee actually is doing rather well today; if anything, he seems pleased that the weather has broken and it was above freezing for a few blessed moments today, since that means he can actually go outside and not spend most of his time shut in the base. It's large enough to keep him from getting too worked up, but it's still windowless and claustrophobic and if he can be outside, then dammit, he will be outside.
He's just outside Goldenrod today; he's up on Acasta.
It's been a while since he's done anything from up on top of the Steelix – travel is one thing, but battle is another entirely, and he's got some of his other high-leveled Pokémon out with him for the sake of satisfying that latter desire; Acasta's up against Carlisle right now, and from the look of it, it's not so much Kimblee's job to command as it is to not fall right the hell off. But his balance is good and his gaze is incredibly focused, and from the sound of it, he's having a grand time – he's laughing quite a bit, and it's cold and there's entirely too much ice around and he's done this before and it was a good time then, too.
He manages to jump down when a well-timed Earthquake finally takes Acasta out, ensuring that he's well clear of the steelsnake when it falls; apparently he's not having fun unless everyone stands a great chance of dying, and today isn't much of an exception. At least he'll be unoccupied with battle for a while as he spends a while seeking out a Revive that he has somewhere on his person; whether he's going back up later or just doesn't want to leave Acasta unconscious is a bit hard to say, but either way he's around for conversation.]
[text]
On your plank of Carneades question though, either person is technically a murderer, if you want to define murder as 'killing of another willfully'. Is it also self-defense? Almost definitely. The legal system would call it one or the other in order to assign a sentence, but ultimately it doesn't matter what anyone else says - it's something the survivor would carry with them for the rest of their life. The feelings of either the survivor or the deceased are ultimately inconsequential, because while the survivor might justify themselves they also know exactly what they did, and no amount of self-reassurance will change what's happened.
Humans live on the deaths of other things. Whether it's wood to build homes, animals to provide food, or other humans to provide whatever real or imagined resource that's gained from conflict, humans are creatures of self-preservation because humans are animals, and nature is an entire system of fighting to hold a position over some other form of life. Ultimately there's always some sort of life-form that's 'shoved off the plank' in order continue living.
no subject
You choose to see it as purely a matter of survival, from the sound of it, yet the sentence before that - regarding "knowing exactly what they did" - indicates that you may believe it worthy of condemnation anyway. May I ask why?
no subject
To put it simply, it's because humans have the capacity and tendency to feel guilt. Whether I personally see it as condemnation isn't relevant - but society in general would see any sort of killing as evil. Personally I don't feel like it's worthy of condemnation - in that situation it's perfectly understandable. In that moment, morality goes out the window in favor of survival.
no subject
no subject
And what about you? Would you be the one to push the other sailor off?
no subject
no subject
Do you ask these sorts of questions often? Other than the morbid ones once a year, I mean.
no subject
no subject
no subject
Philosophy and psychology interest me, however, and I'm not above discussing mythology and the like should it interest someone else.
no subject
Psychology isn't something I've studied formally, however - just by observation.