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

[glaciates]

Or they could be less of an asshole and genuinely want the person they're saving to keep living. But I'm guessing you wouldn't approve of the action then, would you?

[explosivecombat]

If they're more valuable to you alive than dead, then that's beneficial in your opinion. Just because I don't approve of it doesn't mean it's not a valid course of action.

[glaciates]

Alright, but you can at least acknowledge why someone would do something like that. So it's not hard to see why people would get upset at the questions you posed.

[...]

Unless that's what you were trying to do; get everyone riled up for some reason.

[explosivecombat]

Maybe. Or maybe it's for the sake of discussions like this.

[glaciates]

Why? By now you've probably gotten a lot of other responses that are all telling you why you're wrong. Why would you want to get involved in something like that?

[...Maybe he's a masochist.]

[explosivecombat]

Like I said, I like seeing others' reactions.

[glaciates]

So do you genuinely believe what you're saying or is this just to get a reaction out of people?

[explosivecombat]

Whether I believe it or not doesn't matter. I'm not in any position to judge others when it comes to things like this, anyway.

[glaciates]

The entire message seemed to be judging everyone who would act differently than you.

[explosivecombat]

The thing about hypothetical situations like this is that you never fully know how you're going to choose to act until it leaves the realm of theory and becomes real. I'm not so naive to think that everything will fall the way I want it to. I have my own beliefs regarding these things, but I also admit that sometimes life just doesn't work out that way.

[glaciates]

I'm sure you've seen a lot of people who say they'd act differently. It's possible they'd end up acting like you instead of holding up their ideals, yeah. But it's also possible that even people like you could find a situation where you'd put someone else's well-being over your own. I can't actually see you doing it, but I'm sure there are people like you who have been in that sort of situation.

It's not all black and white, which is the impression I got from your original message. So I guess it's good to know you're considering all situations.

[explosivecombat]

I've been tested that way myself already, actually, and the hypothetical situation you gave me earlier was how.

[glaciates]

Really?

[Well that's... the last thing he expected, hang on.]

What did you end up doing?

[explosivecombat]

The example you gave wasn't perfect, but the effect was the same - I was living on borrowed time, and eventually something was going to finish me off. What the condition was is very world-specific so I'm not going to give details, but for simplicity's sake you can assume that if things progressed to their natural conclusion I would have been dead in a very brief period of time.

I was given the choice to see things through to the end - something that would have been easy and quite frankly pleasant for me, because while I may have been dying I wasn't suffering - or to save someone who was going to be useful in carrying out the goals I had wanted to see through.

It was for purely mercenary reasons, and I also had some personal objections to the continued use of what was keeping me alive. But I chose to save the individual and die rather than to try to prolong my own existence.

[glaciates]

[He's not sure what he was expecting but it was definitely not that.]

The person you saved wasn't someone you genuinely cared about then, it was just someone who could continue to do what you couldn't. Still, the fact that you chose to do something like that isn't what I would have expected.

[explosivecombat]

There you have it, then. You learned something today. Well done.

[glaciates]

I'm sure you have plenty of other responses to get back to. This conversation was interesting if nothing else.

[HE'S NOT SURE HOW TO FEEL ABOUT IT, TBH...]

[explosivecombat]

It's unsettling for you when your targets become people, isn't it?

[glaciates]

[WHAT]

Good guess. I'd say that's a pretty common thing with most people though.

[DON'T DO THAT IT'S REALLY CREEPY]

[explosivecombat]

[aw yiss master of the cold read strikes again]

It wasn't a guess.

I'm just good at what I do.

[glaciates]

Do you really expect me to believe that?

[This is really creepy.]

[explosivecombat]

Believe what you want. But this is the other reason I make posts like this - I like to know my enemies.

They'll tell me a surprising amount about themselves in their responses, even if I don't directly ask them to.

[glaciates]

You can't read everyone. Besides, even if a few people tell you what you want to know, so what? There will always be others. Most people disagree with what you're doing, and you're doing yourself no favors with these messages.

[explosivecombat]

And that's perfectly fine by me.

As it stands, I'm still not actively doing anything. Last I checked, angering the network isn't illegal, nor is it even particularly wrong, and I've made no threats against anyone.

So there's no sense in getting up on your soapbox and insisting that I'll be stopped someday, thank you.

[glaciates]

I'm talking about your other actions. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before you try something else.