Moral Quandary

[Baron Mordo]

I watched "The Day The Earth Stood Still" about a week ago. Good movie. I thought that Klaatu might be on to something.

Or was he?

To put it another way, if you had a device or ability that would make people unable to act irresponsibly, would you use it?

[jaeger115]

Nah. I like the world just the way it is. But I liked that movie.

[The Dark]

No. Free will includes the freedom to act in stupid ways. To remove free will would make people no more than robots.

[neoolong]

I watched "The Day The Earth Stood Still" about a week ago. Good movie. I thought that Klaatu might be on to something.

Or was he?

To put it another way, if you had a device or ability that would make people unable to act irresponsibly, would you use it?

Does it make you act irresponsibly as well?

I wouldn't use it, probably, but just wondering.

[Darth Wong]

I would use the device selectively. In any part of the world torn by violence, I would use it until everything calms down, and use it again if it flares back up. Free will sounds good, but it would also be nice to remove situations that cause headlines like "millions dead in horrible civil war".

Examples: India/Pakistan. Israel/Palestine. Rwanda. Etc.

[neoolong]

I would use the device selectively. In any part of the world torn by violence, I would use it until everything calms down, and use it again if it flares back up. Free will sounds good, but it would also be nice to remove situations that cause headlines like "millions dead in horrible civil war".

Examples: India/Pakistan. Israel/Palestine. Rwanda. Etc.

You can do that? I thought it was an all or none thing.

[Baron Mordo]

Let me refine my terms.

1. It affects all humans. Forever.

2. It will not take away the choice to act irresponsibly. It will only take away the ability to act on irrisponsible whims. Example: Someone is thinking about murdering someone else. It will never occur to that person to act on the idea.