Thrylix Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 This thread is inspired by an old thread I made about whether or not it is wrong to step on bugs, but with a different subject. There is an episode of the Twilight Zone called the Little People where a couple astronauts get stranded on a distant planet and while repairing their ship, they stumble upon a race of tiny humans a who are sophisticated enough to build houses, boats, trucks, cities, and appear in all aspects to be identical to the humans in every way except their size. You can probably guess what happens next. An alien version of Conrad's Heart of Darkness. One of the astronauts decides he's going to be their God and begins to dominate the little people through fear and cruelty, based on no godly qualities except the advantage of having evolved to be massively bigger than them. It was a cool episode. Anyway, what's interesting and possibly shocking to some, is I don't think I'd act very differently from that guy in his circumstance. I could see myself becoming a tyrant to them and enjoy every second of it. If I somehow came across a planet of tiny little aliens that were the size of ants to me, I don' think I'd have much of a problem with crushing a few of their towns, provided that that no one (or at least no one who mattered) would find out or try to punish me for it. I'd actually think it's hard to blame a guy like me for taking advantage of the size difference. I would love the chance to be revered as a god, even if I'd very much be an old testament god. Well, except that instead of meting out discipline with lightning, I'd be tyrannizing the little aliens with nothing but two giant stinking feet. If they needed me to press a giant sneaker-shaped footprint in the middle of their capital to remind them to worship me, then that's fine. Actually, I'd probably do that anyway. Here is where you may disagree, but to me it seems like nature taking its course and I don't think I can fault some giant alien who came to Earth doing this either. In the immediate moment he's planting a huge foot down on NYC, I'd probably think the alien was a giant jerk, but looking at the big picture, I know I'd be too insignificant to this being to even get his attention, much less communicate in any meaningful way. And does Godzilla care about the humans he steps on? Besides, I already step on bugs all the time, often purposely. In spite of what I'd do in the above situation, I wouldn't consider myself to be evil, immoral, or unethical. Rather, I'm generally considered to be an all-around great guy by friends and coworkers. I help people all the time for nothing in return, have donated to charities, given people rides, and I even volunteer as an EMT when I can. I run competitively, coach track for no pay. I've never been arrested, vandalized property, or wanted to hurt anyone. What do you think of the behavior I described? How would you behave when in a situation where you gain absolute power over others? Would you be kind or cruel? Or would you walk away from the situation? Try to stay respectful of one another!
zapatos Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 I hope never to be paralyzed and in your care. 15 hours ago, Thrylix said: Try to stay respectful of one another! Kind of funny coming from you.
Strange Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 16 hours ago, Thrylix said: In spite of what I'd do in the above situation, I wouldn't consider myself to be evil, immoral, or unethical. Rather, I'm generally considered to be an all-around great guy by friends and coworkers. I help people all the time for nothing in return, have donated to charities, given people rides, and I even volunteer as an EMT when I can. I run competitively, coach track for no pay. I've never been arrested, vandalized property, or wanted to hurt anyone. When things go wrong, is it always someone else's fault?
Itoero Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 16 hours ago, Thrylix said: How would you behave if you were a massive giant? Am I the only Giant?
Phi for All Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 A giant alien attacking humans may not be doing anything unethical, but a giant human attacking other humans is an evil monster. Do human ethics evaporate when size increases? Isn't that a bully's justification? Even aliens capable of building cities and vehicles are sophisticated enough that an ethical human shouldn't compare them to insects. The OP sounds like they enjoy playing Godzilla more than playing God.
John Cuthber Posted December 9, 2018 Posted December 9, 2018 I'd like to think that I'd behave kindly towards the "lilliputians". It costs me practically nothing to do so. I suspect I'd end up worshipped as a God anyway unless they were fairly sophisticated. It's not as if it would be hard for me to help them with major construction work (from their perspective- or sandcastles and dolls' houses from mine). The only "payment" I could expect would be the satisfaction of my curiosity (and maybe a bit of help with splinters etc). Who knows- I might get them to make me a diffraction grating. The tricky bits would be communication and also avoiding accidents. I'd clearly need to sleep somewhere else. Even an ill-timed sneeze would be a problem. 1
Thrylix Posted January 9, 2019 Author Posted January 9, 2019 On 12/8/2018 at 4:45 PM, Strange said: When things go wrong, is it always someone else's fault? No, why would it be?
Strange Posted January 9, 2019 Posted January 9, 2019 29 minutes ago, Thrylix said: No, why would it be? Just checking if you display any other symptoms of being a psychopath
Raider5678 Posted January 9, 2019 Posted January 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Strange said: Just checking if you display any other symptoms of being a psychopath To be fair, he is right in several aspects. There was a study where they took groups of people and put them in a situation where half of them were prisoners, and the other half were guards. The guards, despite showing no prior indication of being cruel or controlling, almost universally began to abuse their power.
iNow Posted January 9, 2019 Posted January 9, 2019 1 minute ago, Raider5678 said: To be fair, he is right in several aspects. There was a study where they took groups of people and put them in a situation where half of them were prisoners, and the other half were guards. The guards, despite showing no prior indication of being cruel or controlling, almost universally began to abuse their power. You're referring to the Milgram experiments, and their conclusions about what was happening with participants in those experiments were wrong: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/rethinking-one-of-psychologys-most-infamous-experiments/384913/
Raider5678 Posted January 9, 2019 Posted January 9, 2019 4 minutes ago, iNow said: You're referring to the Milgram experiments, and their conclusions about what was happening with participants in those experiments were wrong: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/rethinking-one-of-psychologys-most-infamous-experiments/384913/ I was referring to a different experiment, though that article was an interesting read. https://www.prisonexp.org/
zapatos Posted January 9, 2019 Posted January 9, 2019 5 minutes ago, Raider5678 said: I was referring to a different experiment, though that article was an interesting read. https://www.prisonexp.org/ That one seems to be wrong too. https://www.vox.com/2018/6/13/17449118/stanford-prison-experiment-fraud-psychology-replication 1
iNow Posted January 9, 2019 Posted January 9, 2019 6 minutes ago, zapatos said: That one seems to be wrong too. https://www.vox.com/2018/6/13/17449118/stanford-prison-experiment-fraud-psychology-replication This is what I meant to share. Time for more coffee. Thank you for the assist 1
Raider5678 Posted January 9, 2019 Posted January 9, 2019 (edited) 31 minutes ago, zapatos said: That one seems to be wrong too. https://www.vox.com/2018/6/13/17449118/stanford-prison-experiment-fraud-psychology-replication Ah, seems I'll have to go back and bring my psychology studies up to date then. +1 to both of you. Edited January 9, 2019 by Raider5678
Strange Posted January 12, 2019 Posted January 12, 2019 ! Moderator Note As the OP has started posting inappropriate content (hidden) this thread is closed.
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