01-16-2019, 07:59 AM
Todd -
Being able to hurt or kill others isn't confined to those who have combat training. I remember that one meme going around when I was at university was in the chemistry department, to the effect that anyone sitting in the lunchroom/rest area in that building who couldn't blast it open or at least make it uninhabitable wasn't much of a chemist.
Consider the amusing effects of sugar and garden chemicals if mixed, or various cleaning chemicals and bleach, or carelessly (or mishandled with nefarious intent) domestic electricity.
The point is that, usually, people don't do that sort of thing. And if one is honest, the reason is probably (at least to some extent) the fear of what might happen if one is discovered.
One more thing: The notions of what is good and what is evil vary from time to time, place to place and person to person. Often, this is connected to religion. The old Inquisition mostly thought they were doing good. There are some places in the world where it is considered a good thing to throw homosexuals off tall buildings, others where people think it's OK to kill unborn babies just before term. And, of course, some people think that detonating a high-explosive belt full of ball bearings, worn by them, in the middle of a large crowd will send them straight to Paradise. Others disagree.
Humans aren't rational actors, and the world is by no means perfect. But I don't think that a world where everyone acted according to pure logic, rationality and self-interest would be very pleasant - at all.
Now for the really big question, going back to OA: Will the various grades of transapient have emotions? And further, will those emotions bear any resemblance to those of humans or will said emotions be as impossible to understand as their thought processes?
Being able to hurt or kill others isn't confined to those who have combat training. I remember that one meme going around when I was at university was in the chemistry department, to the effect that anyone sitting in the lunchroom/rest area in that building who couldn't blast it open or at least make it uninhabitable wasn't much of a chemist.
Consider the amusing effects of sugar and garden chemicals if mixed, or various cleaning chemicals and bleach, or carelessly (or mishandled with nefarious intent) domestic electricity.
The point is that, usually, people don't do that sort of thing. And if one is honest, the reason is probably (at least to some extent) the fear of what might happen if one is discovered.
One more thing: The notions of what is good and what is evil vary from time to time, place to place and person to person. Often, this is connected to religion. The old Inquisition mostly thought they were doing good. There are some places in the world where it is considered a good thing to throw homosexuals off tall buildings, others where people think it's OK to kill unborn babies just before term. And, of course, some people think that detonating a high-explosive belt full of ball bearings, worn by them, in the middle of a large crowd will send them straight to Paradise. Others disagree.
Humans aren't rational actors, and the world is by no means perfect. But I don't think that a world where everyone acted according to pure logic, rationality and self-interest would be very pleasant - at all.
Now for the really big question, going back to OA: Will the various grades of transapient have emotions? And further, will those emotions bear any resemblance to those of humans or will said emotions be as impossible to understand as their thought processes?