035. [ANON TEXT]

[explosivecombat]

[Well, good evening, network - it seems Seth's device is active again, though at the very least he's not inviting everyone to war like he's throwing the world's most unasked-for party this time around.]

You know, one of the things I've always found most fascinating about human morality is the idea that we're higher beings due to our natural inclination to put others before ourselves. It's generally accepted in society that we should be willing to sacrifice ourselves before harming another; I've always found adhering to that sort of notion to both vaguely admirable and sickeningly saccharine. If you must kill one to save another, that's still a life that's lost; why shouldn't the reward go to the one who's willing to fight for it, rather than the one who did nothing to earn it but sit there in pious devotion to doing nothing wrong?

We claim superiority for suppressing our instincts to survive; if anything, I think that would put us lower than dogs, not above them. All this intelligence and no will to live; it's pitiful.

But then, I suppose my lack of understanding of these things is why I can't be considered one of you.

For the time being, however, say I were to humor you in discussion for a while. Do you think your will to fight to ensure your survival actually needs to be tested? Since I suspect the answer will overwhelmingly be "No," I have another pre-emptive question for the heroic types.

Is there anything outside of arrogance and so-called moral superiority that makes you say so?

[...O...kay that's really not any better but apparently, it's just that kind of night.

You know, full of misanthropy.

Because some nights are like that.]

Comments

anon text forever

[explosivecombat]

Acknowledging that you're no more special than the rest actually sets you ahead of them, from what I've seen. Even those who are smart enough to be selfish are stupid enough to think that'll save them.

I won't claim to be better than anyone else. I'm skilled and I'm useful, but I'm not particularly special. What sets me apart is the intelligence to admit that, and the willingness to put my very existence on the line in everything I do - because I don't see the point in doing otherwise, to put it bluntly.

[ossifragant]

Believe me, I know very well that there's nothing out there that would save me. That goes without saying. Coming here may have changed the course of fate but it's not a permanent thing.

I could go on about it but it's not exactly that interesting.

I understand completely. It's what I've done before, it's what I'll continue to do. If you're afraid to die, what's the point?

[explosivecombat]

Exactly. Though perhaps I'm biased by merit of having already done it once.

Twice, if we're going to be technical.

[ossifragant]

I was about to, if it matters.

Intentionally so. Couldn't tell you exactly how it happened, but that hardly matters because I don't regret it.

I've never been afraid to die to begin with, though. Maybe that's my problem. Pretty hard to think about how special the lives of the masses are when your own survival means that they all come second to you.

It's kind of like a house of cards when you get right down to it. Someone has to step over someone else. It's the nature of the game.

[explosivecombat]

The lives of the masses have never mattered to me simply because they're so willing to have someone else save them. If they don't care enough to save themselves, or are for some reason unable to save themselves, I don't see why I should bother to do so of my own accord.

[ossifragant]

You shouldn't. They deserve whatever happens to them. It's that simple.

We might be in the minority, thinking like that here. But to be honest I really don't care.

[explosivecombat]

Given that you've just said you don't care about their lives, I would be surprised if you cared at all about their opinions.

[ossifragant]

I've met interesting people here, but most of them think like me to begin with.

For the others, just because I don't care about their opinions doesn't mean I don't find them interesting. I enjoy speaking with people even if I disagree with them.

[explosivecombat]

I'd argue that finding their opinions interesting at all is a form of caring about those opinions, even if it's disagreement.

[ossifragant]

[This is why he should think before he speaks.]

Maybe so.

Ultimately I'm not so different from humans. I'm not so arrogant that I miss that fact.

[explosivecombat]

I never said you were.

May I ask why you find them so interesting overall? What sorts of things tend to interest you and all.

[ossifragant]

Didn't mean to imply you thought that.

I couldn't tell you, exactly. I've always been interested in people. It doesn't exactly matter what the topic of discussion usually is. I've always personally found it easier to speak with those whose thoughts align closer to homunculi.

Humans are so willing to cling to whatever belief they have. Like Elric who called me a mistake, but didn't have the guts to really fight because he found life to precious to actually kill. I find that line of thinking absolutely fascinating. Most people I've worked with don't have that sort of problem.

But then again I don't normally associate with children.

[explosivecombat]

I don't know if I would find that sort of thought "interesting" as much as I would "suicidal" - it goes back to the earlier notion of being unable to comprehend why one would find the life of others to be more valuable than one's own.

It seems unnecessarily self-defeating to me.

[ossifragant]

I don't understand the thought process myself.

No one can accomplish anything by putting other people above himself. Unless he's setting out to get himself killed in the first place, I guess.

[explosivecombat]

It's really only a valid viewpoint if you want to assert moral superiority over others, I think.

[ossifragant]

It wouldn't surprise me.

I knew someone who considered themselves a guardian of people, at least in a manner of speaking. It was nothing but arrogance, naturally. And a whole lot of moral superiority.

[explosivecombat]

And how did that end up working out for them?

[ossifragant]

I don't know.

Hopefully they're dead.

[explosivecombat]

That's a bit bitter, don't you think?

[ossifragant]

Maybe.

It was rather funny. What they were doing.

[explosivecombat]

Go ahead.

[ossifragant]

Some of it would be hard to explain without context, but I'll try.

But this person had their reasons for wanting to be a guardian of people. That's the term they used, at least. More accurately they wanted to control the masses. It worked surprisingly well for a time.

They went out of their way to not be direct about things. Probably because they were smart enough to know attaching a name and face to something like that would only lead to trouble.

Reach too far, though, and even stupid people will pick up on the fact that there's someone out there pulling the strings. That's when you get caught.

[explosivecombat]

If you're so bad at it that even stupid people will pick up on it, then I'd say you more than deserve to get caught.

[ossifragant]

I'm not going to disagree with that fact, trust me.

[explosivecombat]

Either way, morality is always a moot point in the first place, or at least to some extent it should be. There's no universal standard for it, and so it shouldn't even be brought into any sort of rational argument to begin with.

Most moral points are entirely self-centered, anyway.