Dear Fabian,
you seem to be more than just a decent guy. Your way of thinking does really appeal to me, even though I disagree with you at some occasions, for instance:
I am absolutly against capital punishment, if you think logically, the worst thing you can do (probably) is to end somebody's life (maybe it's worse to like destroy all cultural heritage or something) and every person has the right to life whatever he or she has done. To put a murderer in the electric chair is comparable to the scenario where a four-year-old child pinches a two-year-old child in the sandpit (sandbox) and the last-mentiond's mother avenge her child's suffering by pinching the four-year-old. In addition you can be more philosophical and ask the question if you ever can use capital punoshment when it's not a matter of course that you ever can truly blame the murderer what he has done, in one episode of House MD this question in raised when they find that the reason why a murderer who will be executed did murder was becasue of a tumour which let uncontrolled amounts of hormones out in his body poisoning his mind. He could not do anyting about it, but on the other hand do we all know that if your parents raise you in a bad way, punishing you, teach you bad values and so on, then they are exactly like a tumour poisoning your mind as well, and can you then really blame that child if he becomes a murderer, shouldn't you blame the parents?
Well, that was just a little brainstorming from me, I hope it's readabl, I'm from Sweden too so English is my second language. Actually I'm from Gothenburg, but I don't know if would make you laugh just by opening my mouth, my Göteborska isn't that obvious (at least not if you compare it to Albert & Herbert or Veiron i Ottan).
So my questions are:
1. Did your opinion on capital punishment change in anyway after reading this post?
2. Do you watch House MD (House in Sweden)?
3. Do you like Nile City 105,6?
4. Do you play any instrument? (The reason why I ask is because you said something earlier about not knowing what to do with your life, or that you wanted to dedicate your life to something (maybe you didn't actually say this, but that's the feeling I get), and I think that learning to play an instrument is really rewarding on many different levels (at least for me who started playing guitar just a couple of mounths ago (I'm 20 years old so it's never to late). It's the same thing with painting, so my personally advice to you is to start doing something cultural like playing music, paint, writing poems or something like that.)
PS: I hope all this made any sense to you (epecially to Fabian), I know that I abuse parenthesises(?) which can be a bit confusing.
1. flagitious already touched on some of the stuff I was going to post. I think it's helpful to ask yourself the question "is (capital) punishment for the good of the individual or the good of society?". Or put another way, is it to punish criminals or is it to deter future criminals? You wrote that the worst thing you can do is to take someone's life. For that particular person, sure, but for the good of society in general? You also wrote that every person has the right to live no matter what (I bolded it since it's an important point), and that's a fine philosophical opinion, though I don't share it. I don't think there are many absolute truths like that, at least not when you add the "no matter what" part. Since this is a critically important point in the argument, as long as none of us change our minds about it we can't really come to an agreement on capital punishment.
It's true what you write (about pinching children) that part of the purpose of capital punishment is to get revenge for the victim's family or something. I think the more significant/more important reason for society as a whole is to scare future criminals. To get back to the question I started by posting, I think the main purpose of capital punishment is for the good of society at large, it's not about giving the families involved some closure and sense of avenging their raped and strangled daughter or whatever. It's likely a pretty hollow sense of victory in the long run for them anyway.
About the other question you raised, of criminals not being responsible for their actions, that seems to be pretty common nowadays. These people are sent to psychological treatments rather than jail/death row if they're determined to not have been of sound mind. This is probably a good alternative in many practical scenarios, but it doesn't change my stance in anyway in a theoretical scenario where you know he's "guilty". Remember, that's what I wrote in my original answer to the question, you need to be sure there are no innocent convicted.
Same thing goes for being raised by negligent parents. I'm sure some of the time it's serious enough to cause some lasting actual damage, getting back to the scenario where the criminal would be sent for psychological treatment. In general though I'm guessing it just increases the chances of him growing up to be more likely to commit (serious) crimes. Obviously you'd need a solid psychological evaluation before passing judgment in cases like these.
Let me know if you want to discuss further, I don't really think we can find much more to agree on though with our drastically different assumptions.
2. I don't watch House. I've considered giving it a shot, but I've heard it's not a great show so it hasn't happened yet. I imagine I might enjoy it though, I'm sure I'll catch a few episodes at some point and see what I think.
3. I do like Nile City. It's been many years since I watched it now, but I used to have lots of fun quoting this with my friends in 8th grade to early high school or something. I wouldn't mind watching it again some time, though I'm guessing it's lost some of its charm at this point :)
4. I've played the piano since I was very young, my dad being a piano teacher. Mentioned it earlier somewhere. I'm quite interested in music and would love to do something specific with it at some point in the future. I suck at painting though :)
Dear Fabian,
I hope you don't mind me butting in.
supermegavkoy wrote:
but on the other hand do we all know that if your parents raise you in a bad way, punishing you, teach you bad values and so on, then they are exactly like a tumour poisoning your mind as well, and can you then really blame that child if he becomes a murderer, shouldn't you blame the parents?
But how can you blame the parents? Their actions are a result of they way their parents raised them. There is a philosophical view that believes no one is responsible for their actions, they are all results of their environment. If you believe in God you could say God caused everything to happen the way it did, if you do not, you could say physics determined everything based on the initial conditions. Even if you think the same initial conditions can lead to different results, it still doesn't mean you had a choice, it is just random. I think it is called determinism.
This is a fine theory, but it does not mean people should not be punished for their crimes. The true purpose of laws and punishment is not justice. It is to deter crimes from happening in the first place. If you say oh well his parents raised him that way he shouldn't be punished. Then many more people will realize they won't be punished and thus will start killing people.
PS my question for Fabian, is does it annoy you when people answer questions for you? Or is it ok to jump in?
It annoys me when it's someone I don't like posting just to add a useless smartass comment to the discussion or pointing out some really obvious small nitpick thing everyone else has already realized. Obviously not the case here. If it's a solid contribution it's fine.
Joined: 6/11/2006
Posts: 818
Location: Arboga, Sweden
Dear Fabian,
Frozen prinsesstårta, acceptable or not?
And do you have any expectations on my next Metroid2-run?
Also if it is not too personal, how did you vote in the latest election?
Yours truly,
Kardborre
Warp wrote:
omg lol this is so fake!!!1 the nes cant produce music like this!
Dear Fabian,
Frozen prinsesstårta, acceptable or not?
And do you have any expectations on my next Metroid2-run?
Also if it is not too personal, how did you vote in the latest election?
Yours truly,
Kardborre
Frozen prinsesstårta, not that acceptable. I won't be trying it again :) Non-frozen prinsesstårta is of course awesome.
I've never seen Metroid 2, hell I barely know which console it's for. So I don't have any specific expectations other than it'll probably rock, being a solid improvement and everything.
I've shared some quite a bit more personal stuff than how I vote in this thread :) Anyway I didn't vote, I don't have any strong political convictions and in general I don't think there's much value in voting for one individual. If I voted it would be for vänsterpartiet or miljöpartiet I guess, I dunno. That's based more on ideological reasons than specific stuff they stand for right now, since I have almost no idea what specifically they're trying to push etc.
Dear Fabian,
First, let me say that you are quite an eloquent speaker, probably moreso in your native Swedish, but quite amazingly so in English.
I daresay I always thought you were from England or the "USA" from the way your wrote, but maybe that was just my horrible prejudice.
So my question today is:
What do we do now?
There are quite a few really smart people in the world (and lots of them on this site)... do these smart people owe it to the rest of the world to try and fix things for everyone?
Or maybe we can sit around and TAS...?
Humbly yours,
Alden in Paradise
do these smart people owe it to the rest of the world to try and fix things for everyone?
Dear Fabian, I'll ask a question related to this quote.
Doesn't every person think of themselves as being either smart, or 'right'? People of two completely opposite opinions could say they are 100% sure they are right about something, and think the other isn't smart enough to understand. You mostly think per definition that you are right, since otherwise you would change your opinion (right?). So how do you truly know that you are either 'smart' or 'right' about something?
Doesn't every person think of themselves as being either smart, or 'right'?
<...>
So how do you truly know that you are either 'smart' or 'right' about something?
(Sorry to hijack the question addressed to someone else, but it is a fascinating topic.)
You have a good question. I have came to believe that no person can actually comprehend anything smarter than what they are themselves. Each person thinks that there's nothing more intelligent; for some, it is even insult to suggest otherwise. One just cannot comprehend how someone could be more intelligent, hence yes, everyone thinks of themselves as being 'smart' and/or 'right'.
Such comparisons can only be done on a mutual common ground. Being 'right' can sometimes be proven through logic. Sometimes not.
One way to analyze intelligence is through the assumption that intelligence is the ability to spot the relevant, and is the basis between many graphical tests such as the test used by Mensa. It is one of the best ways there is to an objective comparison of 'smart'ness, but not comprehensive.
Joined: 11/18/2006
Posts: 2426
Location: Back where I belong
Bisqwit wrote:
Baxter wrote:
Doesn't every person think of themselves as being either smart, or 'right'?
<...>
So how do you truly know that you are either 'smart' or 'right' about something?
(Sorry to hijack the question addressed to someone else, but it is a fascinating topic.)
You have a good question. I have came to believe that no person can actually comprehend anything smarter than what they are themselves. Each person thinks that there's nothing more intelligent; for some, it is even insult to suggest otherwise. One just cannot comprehend how someone could be more intelligent, hence yes, everyone thinks of themselves as being 'smart' and/or 'right'.
Such comparisons can only be done on a mutual common ground. Being 'right' can sometimes be proven through logic. Sometimes not.
One way to analyze intelligence is through the assumption that intelligence is the ability to spot the relevant, and is the basis between many graphical tests such as the test used by Mensa. It is one of the best ways there is to an objective comparison of 'smart'ness, but not comprehensive.
I totally, and respectfully, disagree with you on the bolded point. I have a bachelors degree and am working on my doctorate, so yes, I would consider myself smart (within a given field). However there are other fields in which I know nothing about (European history, for one). So it is incredibly easy for me to think that there are more intelligent people than me in other fields. However, I also know for a fact that there are many, many people in my field who are smarter than me, and it gets proven to me every day. I am relatively smart in many subjects, but I also know there will always be people smarter than me in pretty much everything I do. Maybe that's just the mentality I've gained from being in school for so long, but it totally contradicts your position. Ironically, I think that I'm right when it comes to this topic (not necessarily because I'm smarter than Bisqwit), and the irony is certainly not lost on me.
I have came to believe that no person can actually comprehend anything smarter than what they are themselves. Each person thinks that there's nothing more intelligent; for some, it is even insult to suggest otherwise. One just cannot comprehend how someone could be more intelligent
I disagree.
lots of words.
mmbossman, you seem to be confused as to the difference between intelligence and knowledgability, but I am going to back you up in disagreeing with bisqwit, because I know several people who I would consider to be smarter than myself, in knowledgability, wisdom, synthesis of data, and problem solving. I have also, on multiple occasions, felt that I was in the wrong about an issue, and abandoned my arguement as a result.
My experience has actually been that I am barely, if at all, able to comprehend people having less intelligence than I do, it is difficult to understand how people could struggle to understand logic chains that strike me as obvious.
I think that this is the where the difference between vanity and humility lies.
One thing that we have in common, though, is that in our behaviors, we are attempting to apply universally a trait that we know ourselves to have.
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
Why would you vote for Vänsterpartiet?
They want:
- 6 hour limit on workdays, meaning greater inefficiences in production, causing mass unemployment as companies move operations abroad.
- Increase government control over landlords and private businesses. Vänsterpartiet wants to seize the property of anyone who do not rent out to, or hire people at the government's discretion. At present, they can only be fined.
- To reduce the already ridiculous jail sentences and let criminals run loose
- To send precious women into war and thereby reduce the size of the next generation of Swedes dramatically after a war
- To encourage graffiti and vandalism
- To help voter groups that depend the most on the government (non-productive citizens), to increase their own power over the people.
Dear Fabian,
Say someone else had made an Ask thread before you. Who would you have most preferred it to be? What would you have asked them?
Your boyfriend(gay),
JXQ
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
