I hope you will forgive me for not being in the "there is no free will" camp.
; )
@AskTheDevil @MLClark @thewebrecluse Your camp fascinates me though I suppose that makes sense because I'm in the free will camp.
@AskTheDevil @MLClark @thewebrecluse
This is getting into some truly sticky philosophy. Free Will Vs Determinism, that age old grudge match and the idea of the ultimate motivator behind bad behavior.
Sanity is a hard metric to define. One of my favorite sayings is "We have never seen a fully sane and intact human adult" None of us gets out of our childhood undamaged, but to the extent that influences our choices?
This is getting into the weeds and chewing more characters than I have.
@AskTheDevil @MLClark @thewebrecluse
So let's break this down a bit. I think there's a difference between sanity and morality.
I think one can be 100% in their right mind, and also be totally mercenary. If your focus is soley on your own advancement/comfort, it's completely possible to be completely sane and utterly uncaring of other people.
@AskTheDevil @MLClark @thewebrecluse
Here's the fun part.She identifies as a dragon on a spiritual level, just as I identify as a hare. She argues its natural for her to have low empathy and see everything around her as food
So she'd argue that shes completely normal, because she's a dragon
So is she sane? Hell, am I sane? There's people that would argue if you were to say yes, but what's the end result?
She's still not harming people, even if she doesn't feel an innate incentivizeation to
@AskTheDevil @MLClark @thewebrecluse
Penn Gilette a while ago said that he raped, killed and murdered as much as he wanted, and that number was zero.
This was his answer to question certain people of faith would ask him, since he was an atheist and thus had no spiritual basis for his ethics.
Regardless of where someone finds themselves, there is this ability to choose your own adventure. You don't need an emotion, feeling or conviction to influence what you do.
@NiveusLepus @MLClark @thewebrecluse
Yes! I loved that! Thank you for mentioning this!
@NiveusLepus @MLClark @thewebrecluse I am sitting ten feet away from another person who is very much like that.
They don't have the feelings, like empthy or shame that curtail others. They came up with reasons to not engage in antisocial behavior, be a benefit to their community, etc. They don't _have_ to be "nice", they _choose_ to based on reason and principle. They substitute head for heart where the heart doesn't feel the way others do.
@NiveusLepus @MLClark @thewebrecluse
Thanks! I think that's what I've been trying to say, only more clumsily!
@AskTheDevil @MLClark @thewebrecluse
On the other hand, there is a friend of mine that pegs two out of 3 on the dark triad. She's basically a sociopath. Her empathy is conditional and a choice.
But she will tell you that she looks terrible in orange for one, and the overall benefits of community and having friends are sufficient for her to not go full monster core.
There is clearly something wrong with her from a human perspective, but she still chooses to be decent.