erm thats really hard because i love food. i think i would wait until i have more money
would you consider yourself strange if you didnt want what everyone around you has?
i hope that make sense
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erm thats really hard because i love food. i think i would wait until i have more money
would you consider yourself strange if you didnt want what everyone around you has?
i hope that make sense
No, not at all. Sure, seeming a minority in certain, sometimes trendy, desires can appear strange to others, but, keep in mind, only a minority of people seem actually intelligent. :lol:
Would you ever volunteer as a test subject in University science experiments, which would involve no harm, but getting paid?
sure why not :)
would you ever be a bully for no reason at all?
The simple answer to the question, for me, is no.Quote:
Originally Posted by shortysweetp
But there is a fascinating reason why there is a fundamental flaw inherent in the very nature of this question.
I shall return to elaborate.
***OK, now that I have posted and reserved my place in the thread...
IF someone has the words "bully" and "gratuitous" in their vocabulary, then it is meaningless to ask them if they would "choose" to become a bully who delights in gratuitous cruelty and violence, since their consciousness of these words and concepts would mean that it is against their very nature to choose gratuitous violence and inflict suffering for no good reason. But on the other side of the coin, if you were to question someone who IS by their very nature a bully, then they would not be conscious of what they are, at least not in the sense that they would ever say they do it for no reason at all.
The perfect example was a documentary on television once, about "wolves" in the prison system (men who repeatedly rape other prisoners against their will). They interviewed one such wolf, and asked him why he did this, and he gave a long discussion about how he had experienced a wretched and deprived childhood, and how no one had ever gave him a birthday party or a present or loved him or cared what happened to him, so... in his mind, it was only right and fair and just that he inflict suffering and humiliation on these other men, since it was unfair that they had nicer lives, while he had suffered. In his own mind, he was simply evening the score (you see, in his mind he HAD excellent reasons to do what he did.)
And, to conform to the rules of the game, my question is:
If some all powerful genie or deity or demon came to you with a choice: You may live for 100 years in happiness, but when you die, the world is destroyed, or would you choose to die immediately, and a painful death, but the world will be guaranteed 100,000 years of safety (but no one would ever know of your choice); would you choose to suffer and die for the sake of the world?
(By the way, I recently posed this very question to someone who is quite brilliant and educated, and a published author in a certain field, and he unhesitatingly answered that he would take the 100 years of life, not because he was greedy for pleasure or afraid of death and suffering, but simply because he saw it as the more sensible choice, since, for him, the human race as a whole is so worthless and destructive that it would be pointless to guarantee it another 100,000 years of rampage. I had told him, initially, that I would choose the martyric death, precisely because it would give my own death meaning and purpose.)
The others not knowing would still mean that your martyric death had a meaning and a purpose? When you're dead and the world keeps on living, your meaning and purpose of dying dies with you. Did you mean that you knowing in your last moments that your death might have had a purpose would be enough for you to die willingly? Just curious.
Curiosity is the highest form of insubordination. - NabokovQuote:
Originally Posted by Jay
Good question! And my answer is, "Yes, it would be sufficient for me and me alone to realize that I had acted in a noble fashion and sacrificed my own life and personal pleasure for the sake of future generations."
Obviously, not everyone feels or thinks the way I do, nor do I have any right to impose my own idiosyncracies and values upon others. Whenever we choose to write and publish, we do impose ourselves, potentially, upon posterity in the sense that we leave behind us a legacy, to be read. And there is always the danger that our legacy may survive, like a rosetta stone, and one day be rediscovered, and taken seriously.
Consider that obscure poet who wrote "The Tobacconist".
http://www.online-literature.com/for...ad.php?t=12693
All that was left of his life was a chest of manuscripts, found in his wretched, rented, furnished room. But, as fate would have it, it was a chest that survived, and was one day open, and read, and taken seriously.
If you happened to read my long post on the Baudelaire Seminar
http://www.online-literature.com/for...273#post101273
You will notice that I sat silently through the seminar, only taking notes.
I mention this because I want to speak of a certain kind of "forebearance".
It is the forbearance mentioned in the "Life of Pi" post, in the explanation of "Tsimtsum".
http://www.online-literature.com/for...ead.php?t=4365
(see #18)
Forebearance can become a way of life; a practice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Forebearance
The true thespian is always on stage, even when there is no audience to applaud or jeer.
I would die immediately, why not.
You are really hungry and decide to make a sandwich. The sandwich was the best tasting sandwich you've ever had, you get halfway through the sandwich and you notice there's a small piece of mold on the bread. Would you pick off the mold and continue eating?
seeing that as i was a poor child growing up I have done this. it really wasnt to be bad plus you have already eaten then bread so might as well finish up.
OK would you do nothing all day long if you knew you had to pack because you will be moving in five or so days?
Yes, as I always pack on the last day before I leave, and not a day sooner. I don't really see the need to start packing earlier.
Would you negatively use other people to further your personal goals?
Not knowingly... but I do tend to be egotistical to attain things I want - I stop looking around me and noticing that I might hurt others. :blush:
Would you jump in a train even if it was already moving (but the door is still open)?
I suppose it depends on how fast the train traveled, how badly I needed in the train, and why. If needed, yes, I would. :nod:
If your best friend or close family member committed a crime, would you turn him/her to the police?
Depending on the severity of the crime, Yes I would.
Would you avenge yourself by killing your killer if you had the chance?
No, I don't want to be responsible for anothers death, however I may change my mind if it was to prevent the killer from killing a loved one.
If you were being put to death (wrongfully of course) would you chose to die by hanging or firing squad?
Firing squad.. It makes me very scared to think of dying by suffocation - for me a couple of seconds under water are already quite a feat :goof:
Would you try to escape if you were sent to jail?
Depends on the circumstances. If the punishment wouldn't be...er...anything fatal in the not-unprobable case that they caught me, then I'd probably try...but I think after a few attempts I'd probably just give up and submit to being caged up...I would certainly *try* to escape, though.
Of course, that's if my conscience was clear. :p
Seriously, if I had to spend a long time in jail then I would HAVE to have 1) paper 2) pen (for writing and drawing) 3) pencil and 4)...I would put this first but somehow I'm not sure if they'd let me bring my violin. :D
Would you steal if the life (or lives) of a loved one(s) depended on your stealing? (nothing serious, not drugs or cameras or anything expensive, just...I dunno, a loaf or two of bread, like Jean Valjean?)