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

[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.

[ossifragant]

You're right, of course.

In my experience, people aren't very good at being rational when it comes to having deeply held beliefs challenged.

[explosivecombat]

No, they aren't.

At the same time, some of them deserve to be challenged, and I see no reason to not do so.

[ossifragant]

Of course not.

You're doing a good job of it from what I can see.

If the belief is strong enough, it'll hold up. If not it wasn't a strong enough belief, was it?

[explosivecombat]

I've never been too interested in changing people's minds and beliefs. If anything, I admire the conviction held by those whose beliefs I can't change.

Their thoughts are mine to influence, but not mine to change. It's an important distinction.

[ossifragant]

I've always found those exact convictions to be the most interesting of all of them.

There's something to be said about a person who is strong enough not to be shaken.

[explosivecombat]

Not always good things, of course, as some beliefs are very, very stupid no matter how you look at them.

But the conviction itself is admirable.

[ossifragant]

It certainly is.