Most would become supervillains if given superpowers, study says.
By
2short2care,
Posted on: 2010-10-12 10:27 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture
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I never assumed a person would automatically lean towards "full evil" with superpowers just as I never assumed people would automatically lean towards "full good". Human choice would always be involved to some degree.|
Originally Posted by Cowman
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I just happen to accept that things which are labeled as being natural or instinctual are not also automatically moral. There are areas those things can overlap, but they are not equivalents. Morality is a intellectual construct not a universal constant.
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--{=====> Virtue ♀
Lord, please protect me from the good intentions of others.
Learn modesty, if you desire knowledge. A highland would never be irrigated by river." (Kanz ol-Haghayegh)
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Originally Posted by Golden Girl
They both harm innocent people though
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Actually, as a reader of the FF comics from back in the day and a few attempts now, i don't recall Dr. Doom actually harming "innocent" people. He does attempt to put a "needs of the many..." attitude when it comes down to it and he does put his own people's welfare against any other nation but he doesn't go around planning genocide, err, intentionally that is.
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***"When you surround an enemy, leave an outlet free [...] to make him believe there is a road to safety, and thus prevent his fighting with the courage of despair." Sun Tzu ***
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You will be the mass murderer of millions of mid-level managers.
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Originally Posted by Zubenelgenubi
Any world leader who starts a war will die. Anyone who orders the assignation of anyone else will die.
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Learn modesty, if you desire knowledge. A highland would never be irrigated by river." (Kanz ol-Haghayegh)
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Originally Posted by Golden Girl
Actually, it is the natural way to act
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Originally Posted by Golden Girl
Universal morality comes before any of them.
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Originally Posted by Golden Girl
I don't think he's wrong - I know he is
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Originally Posted by Golden Girl
They both harm innocent people though
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Originally Posted by The_Dude73
Lord, please protect me from the good intentions of others.
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It's not that I stand against Golden Girl's professed intention to do "good things" if she had superpowers. What worries me about it is that she seems to blindly assume everything would turn out fine and that there'd be no negative consequences because she somehow KNOWS she'd do the "the right thing" given the chance. Pardon me if I doubt ANYONE could handle the responsibility much less the likes of Golden Girl or me for that matter.
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GG is much less scary than the people proudly claiming they'd go around killing everybody. But maybe they are too screwed up to take seriously?
A game is not supposed to be some kind of... place where people enjoy themselves!
As far as right and wrong and there being no consequences; let's say you gained superpowers akin to the Hulk (Banner Hulk not that cheap Red imitiation), or THOR or Superman, and then after gaining the powers you hear the latest news of terrorist attacks and finally have decided that enough is enough and that since you have the power you decide to use it.
The mission: go to the Mid East and proceed to crush the terrorists. Take out their bases, camps, hiding areas, insurgent areas, etc.
Would their be repercussions? Sure. Some countries leaders and populations would likely welcome such an intervention but others may see it as an act of war, especially if I decided to wrap myself in the American Flag before going over there. That would surely draw some negative reaction to the U.S. no matter how many times the govt. denied creating such a person or sending such a person there. Also would the local indigenous population of the countries that I hit welcome the removal of the terrorists? Some might, some might not.
Would the world be better off if such a super powered person crushed the terrorists? One would like to think so.
Now let's take this one step further: said super being heads to the mid east and during the act of demolishing the terrorists they happen to locate a certain terrorist leader that is wanted for assorted crimes. What would happen if:
A. the super being decides to eliminate the leader?
B. the super being decides to bring the leader into custody for war crimes trials?
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You can be moral without being soft. To me it is the people who lack the moral fortitude to do what is right and most often needed who look the other way and allow and allow society to degenerate as it has.|
Originally Posted by Cowman
I always love it when people equate "morality" with being overly soft on the evils of the world. Sorta like when people equate playing violent video games to being a serial killer.
But folks do love their "dude, I'd TOTALLY kill a buncha people for their own good" rants, so don't mind me.  |
But look on the bright side. We as a society will not last much longer. The signs are there. We will implode into chaos and war which will solve a lot of problems through the death of innocents that would not happen if some of us 'mini tyrants' had powers.
Do you seriously think you could solve anything by killing criminals?
Crime is not in the neighborhood of being the highest danger to humanity.
A game is not supposed to be some kind of... place where people enjoy themselves!
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Innocent by who's definition. They only harm people that break the laws of their nations. They only punish criminals. They believe with absolute certainty that they are right. They are Superheroes by virtually every definition, yet are generally considered to be villains. Do you really believe you would be different simply because your moral compass points in a slightly different direction? And I do mean slightly different. There can be a fine line between hero and tyrant, and it can rarely be seen by the person being judged.|
Originally Posted by Golden Girl
They both harm innocent people though
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It is your absolute belief in your "rightness" that concerns me more than anything. Your innability to even conceive that you might commit acts that others find horrible or wrong only increases the probability that such acts would occur. Much like religious zealots who commit acts of unspeakable evil in the name of their faith, yet truly belive they serve a higher cause.
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That is something i have observed as well. These kinds of threads are always rife with people giving her nonsense because she is a bit optimistic, but we have a bunch of people (not just in this thread, these things come up a lot) proudly claiming they would commit mass murder because of some really horribly thought out logic and that tends to get a free pass. The internet is weird.
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Originally Posted by ChaosExMachina
GG is much less scary than the people proudly claiming they'd go around killing everybody. But maybe they are too screwed up to take seriously?
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I thought the article was unimpressive in the extreme, and could only stomach about a page and a half of the discussion here. Computer scientist John McCarthy pointed out long ago that people come up with these ridiculous scenarios because they're dramatic, not because they're plausible.
| But how is this a 'study?' It sounds like educated guesses. |
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
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On a similar point, while I don't exactly agree with the Spewer of Smilies in this particular instance, the self-satisfied cynicism people are displaying in dismissing every positive thing anyone says scares me a lot more.
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Originally Posted by rian_frostdrake
That is something i have observed as well. These kinds of threads are always rife with people giving her nonsense because she is a bit optimistic, but we have a bunch of people (not just in this thread, these things come up a lot) proudly claiming they would commit mass murder because of some really horribly thought out logic and that tends to get a free pass. The internet is weird.
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Some of my favorite quotes regarding Good Intentions:
The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.
Albert Camus
One lives with so many bad deeds on one's conscience and some good intentions in one's heart.
John Dewey
Life is short and if you're looking for extension, you had best do well. 'Cause there's good deeds and then there's good intentions. They are as far apart as Heaven and Hell.
Ben Harper
Learn modesty, if you desire knowledge. A highland would never be irrigated by river." (Kanz ol-Haghayegh)
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That is ADORABLE. |
Originally Posted by Knight_Marshal
But look on the bright side. We as a society will not last much longer. The signs are there. We will implode into chaos and war which will solve a lot of problems through the death of innocents that would not happen if some of us 'mini tyrants' had powers.
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I think your definitions of crime and criminal are more narrow than they actually are.|
Originally Posted by ChaosExMachina
Do you seriously think you could solve anything by killing criminals?
Crime is not in the neighborhood of being the highest danger to humanity. |
Murderers are criminals and murder is a crime. Mass murderers are criminals and mass murder is a crime.
While some posters may be invoking a death penalty for parking tickets I expect most people were considering lethal force for horrible crimes not petty ones.
total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
If I ever gotten superpowers, first thing I would do is go to a place where I am sure nobody was around so they couldnt get hurt or see who or what I was doing and explore my new powers, find out what exactly I could do, what my weaknesses were, what my limitations were and so on and so forth. Then when I was done with that I would make it, FREE ICE CREAM FOR EVERYBODY!!!! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!
Cancel the kitchen scraps for widows and lepers, no more merciful beheadings and call off christmas!
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If some sort of TV supervillain said this I would criticize the writers for no believable nuance.|
Originally Posted by Knight_Marshal
You can be moral without being soft. To me it is the people who lack the moral fortitude to do what is right and most often needed who look the other way and allow and allow society to degenerate as it has.
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And why are the kill everybody posts immediately assuming that the powers would involve the ability to kill everybody?
A game is not supposed to be some kind of... place where people enjoy themselves!
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I support your position and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
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Originally Posted by 2short2care
Then when I was done with that I would make it, FREE ICE CREAM FOR EVERYBODY!!!! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!
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Says the female equivalent of Emperor Cole. Seriously tho, the more I read of GG's views the more I believe her world would be run like the game PARANOIA without the humor.
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Originally Posted by Golden Girl
It's a very Tyrant-style solution
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Solve? No. |
Originally Posted by ChaosExMachina
Do you seriously think you could solve anything by killing criminals?
Crime is not in the neighborhood of being the highest danger to humanity. |
Cut down on prison overcrowding and the amount of money spent taking care of them for years? Yes.
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You don't need the ability to kill everybody. Even the Douwd showed the folly of being able to do that.|
Originally Posted by ChaosExMachina
If some sort of TV supervillain said this I would criticize the writers for no believable nuance.
And why are the kill everybody posts immediately assuming that the powers would involve the ability to kill everybody? |
I will settle for a few at a time. Enough to walk into a nest of terrorists and kill everyone there in a few seconds.
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The second part is easy to fix... stop imprisoning people for things that shouldn't be illegal. No killing needed.
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Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Solve? No.
Cut down on prison overcrowding and the amount of money spent taking care of them for years? Yes. |
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A death penalty for parking tickets is just silly. I'd have people with Kryptonian powers working for the Parking Authority and whenever they found an illegally parked car they'd simply throw the car into the Sun. Problem solved. No one gets a ticket and no one dies. |
Originally Posted by SwellGuy
While some posters may be invoking a death penalty for parking tickets I expect most people were considering lethal force for horrible crimes not petty ones.
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In my opinion, the world would be a far, far better place if the human predators were removed. I'm talking predators who kill, and r4pe, yes. but also those who manipulate governments and businesses and economic systems to enrich themselves to insane levels while harming all of the rest of society.
And really, after the first few hundred or so, the rest would get the idea. And for those that didn't, well, problem easily solved.
@Golden Girl
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